3
GROWING THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF MEDICINES
I would like to recognise the tremendous amount of
planning and work that goes on behind the scenes by
those on our boards, and in our sections and special
interest groups, in order to deliver presentations and
sessions at our own congresses as well as further
afield, and to give pharmacy and pharmaceutical
sciences input to policies, guidance and standards,
both in existence and in the making, around the
world. Work is well under way for our 2014 congress
in Bangkok and our 2015 congress in Düsseldorf.
To achieve FIP s mission, we need to keep delivering
our important message and sharing our expertise.
This annual report gives a glimpse of our vast global
network and demonstrates that FIP continues to sit at
many tables, from the World Health Assembly and the
World Health Organization s executive board
meetings to the International Alliance of Patients
Organizations and collaborations on ethics.
The challenges of ensuring the right medicine for the
right patient, at the right time, used appropriately,
and for the right price, persist through changing
political situations, fluctuating economic climates
and advances in science and technology. However,
we are confident that through continuing to make
vital connections, collaborations and being pro-
active, together we can make lasting improvements
to health in our communities. I believe that, in just a
few years, we will see a plentiful harvest and the next
crop of our impacts will be dispersed and found in
every corner of the globe.
Michel Buchmann
President
International Pharmaceutical Federation
FOREWORD
Last year was a year of growth. In 2012, the centenary
of FIP, we began a new cycle of action. We marked a
starting point, through a ministerial summit held in
collaboration with the Ministry of Health in the
Netherlands, on the responsible use of medicines.
In 2013/14, we nurtured the seeds planted at that sum-
mit and, through our diverse partnerships and with
the support of our member organisations, we have
seen many healthy green shoots around the globe.
Indeed, some of these shoots have grown quickly,
have blossomed and are already bearing fruit.
FIP s annual congress in 2013, held in Dublin, was
preceded by a symposium for international pharma-
ceutical policy-makers. Co-organised with the Irish
Ministry of Health as a follow-up to the Amsterdam
summit, it enabled some crucial discussions on how
the responsible use of medicines can be achieved.
This symposium not only illustrates the strength and
influence of FIP but, importantly, the growing
recognition of the expertise of pharmacists and
pharmaceutical scientists and the key roles they have
to play if this vision is to become more than an ideal.
Some of the many other ways in which FIP has
cultivated the responsible use of medicines from
March 2013 to February 2014 are highlighted in this
report. Through the efforts of our Board of Pharma-
ceutical Practice, Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences
and the FIP Education Initiative, we have made
positive impacts on patient safety, natural disasters,
ethical collaboration (including in the field of
research), universal health coverage, the pharmacy
workforce, and the image of our profession, to name
but a few.