News

The Annual Conference of EAFP is an opportunity for the Association together with leadership teams from faculties of pharmacy in Europe to network with colleagues representing other pharmacy organisations in Europe and globally. During the 2023 Annual Conference of EAFP held last May in Valencia, representatives from the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists,  Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union and the International Pharmaceutical Federation contributed to the programme. This was an opportunity for EAFP to connect with these partner stakeholders and identify common goals, share activities and discuss future advocacy to support the transformational evolvement of pharmacy education, pharmaceutical science and pharmacy practice.

Professor Ralph Altiere and Dr Ozge Ozer shared tools developed by the International Pharmaceutical Federation to support sustainable developments in pharmacy education.  These included covered aspects of competency development and digital health in pharmacy education which were identified as priority areas for the European region. Furthermore the work on strategies to improve enrolment in schools of pharmacy, which is a concern at a global level too, was highlighted.

During the Deans Forum, Andras Sule, President of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists and Jorge Batista, Professional Affairs Advisor at the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union discussed the Context of Sustainability in Pharmacy. Three dimensions were identified as being relevant and common goals for the three Associations, namely: 1) evolvement of pharmaceutical services to optimize therapy, 2) the ecological aspect when looking at pharmaceutical activities, and 3) pharmacy profession workforce development.  As educators, we are leading pharmacy curricula that deliver relevant competencies to graduates so as to support evolvement of pharmaceutical processes.  Inclusion of aspects of green pharmacy, from product to patient services, contribute to the profession’s promotion of ecological sustainability. Finally and as important is the requirement to ensure sustainability of the profession by actively promoting recruitment of students into pharmacy programmes and by offering post-graduate and lifelong learning opportunities.

Lilian M. Azzopardi

President, EAFP

University of Malta