Pharmacists will – and must – play key roles in tackling the world’s health challenges, Dr. Catherine Duggan, chief executive officer of the International Pharmaceutical Federation, said in her keynote address to the second Pharmacy Strategies for New Opportunities Worldwide (SNOW) Symposium in Breckenridge, Colo. on Jan. 25, 2019.
Dr. Duggan cited the World Health Organization’s 2019 list of global health issues ranging from the potential for an influenza pandemic to antimicrobial resistance to HIV to primary health care in her speech. “Pharmacy is absolutely front and center in all these challenges,” said Dr. Duggan, who recently became CEO of the federation, know as FIP for its French name Fédération Internationale Pharmaceutique.
To maximize its impact, the profession must embrace technological change, welcome innovative approaches to health care, optimize the existing workforce and train for future needs, and examine the care and services pharmacists provide. FIP is working with other health-related organizations and gathering and providing data on these issues, she said.
“The opportunities are huge, and we will ensure pharmacy contributes and is recognized for doing so, across all sectors to the primary health care challenge laid out in the Astana Declaration in October 2018” she said.
The Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences presents the SNOW Symposium every two years. The Jan. 24 and 25 event drew about 45 participants from the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, India, Namibia, South Africa and Kenya.
