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.