BETHESDA, MD 12 November 2009—The Hospital Pharmacy Section (HPS) of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is adjusting its organizational structure to help in implementing the consensus statements from the 2008 Global Conference on the Future of Hospital Pharmacy, held in Basel, Switzerland.
"In order to best take advantage of the existing regional structures, the FIP HPS is seeking to re-organise itself to mirror the regional structures of the World Health Organization," President Andy Gray of South Africa said by e-mail.
Gray, of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, explained that the reorganization "will enable the regional Vice Presidents to engage with and contribute to the Regional Pharmaceutical Forum, as well as to engage with the member countries and their pharmacy organisations."
There are six World Health Organization (WHO) regions, each with a regional pharmaceutical forum.
Until recently, HPS had five vice presidents, one each for Africa, Australasia, Europe, Japan, and North America.
Marianne F. Ivey, of Health Alliance Pharmacy Services in Cincinnati, is now vice president for the region of the Americas, not just North America. Her responsibilities stretch from Canada to Chile.
The position of a vice president specifically for Japan is being eliminated. Section Treasurer Toby Clark of Charleston, South Carolina, said HPS leadership is apportioning the countries in WHO’s western Pacific and Southeast Asia regions to the vice presidents residing in Japan and Australia.
The eastern Mediterranean region’s unofficial vice president, who resides in Pakistan, now has official status, Clark said.
Parts of northern and eastern Africa are in WHO’s eastern Mediterranean region, not the African region. WHO’s European region extends east through the Russian Federation to the Pacific Ocean.
The section’s preference to view constituents by WHO region rather than by continent or, in the case of Japan, by country, was evident last year at the global conference.
At the conference, Assistant Secretary Lee Vermeulen of the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics presented the results ofa global survey of hospital pharmacy practice. He reported some of the results by grouping respondents into regions rather than continents.
Lisbon in 2010
The 70th International Congress of FIP will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, from August 28 through September 2, 2010. The theme of the congress is "From Molecule to Maximizing Outcome—Pharmacies Exploratory Journey." More information is available at www.fip.org/files/fip/lisbon2010/Second%20Announcement%20Lisbon.pdf.
Board of Pharmaceutical Practice Chair Philip J. Schneider, of the University of Arizona, said the reorganization by HPS helps it optimize the contributions of pharmacists to improve the use of medicines in hospitals.
E-mailing from The Hague in the Netherlands, where he was leading a meeting at FIP headquarters, Schneider said FIP has been increasing its relationship with WHO in an effort to highlight the importance of medication use in global health and the role that pharmacists can play in improving it.
Clark said HPS this year surpassed the 500-member mark, giving the group a third representative on the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice.
Schneider said the Community Pharmacy Section is the only other group with three seats on the board.
