Willem Scholten

Willem Scholten is a Consultant - Medicines and Controlled Substances based in the Netherlands. His specialties are pharmaceutical regulatory affairs and drug control policies, with a special interest in realizing access to adequate pain management for those 5 billion people who have no access.

He is a pharmacist who also holds a masters in public administration. He worked for 10 years in retail pharmacy and for 21 years in public administration. In the Ministry of Health of the Netherlands he worked on cost containment of medicines and substance control legislation. He was also the first Head of the Office of Medicinal Cannabis of the Ministry, where he set up the production and distribution of a pharmaceutical quality medicinal cannabis. He joined the World Health Organization in 2005 where he worked on substance evaluation and access to controlled medicines.

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