FIP and the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association have today signed a memorandum of understanding, defining how the two organisations will work synergistically to advance health for the public benefit by developing the pharmacy profession.

FIP and CPA have already been working together on pushing forward the pharmaceutical workforce agenda. “2018 has provided important opportunities for the CPA’s advocacy efforts for the profession around both the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting. This year our voice was significantly louder due to the support in these efforts offered by FIP. The impact we have made together is significant and resulted in a recommendation from civil society to invest in the pharmacy workforce being presented to the Commonwealth health ministers,” said CPA executive director Victoria Rutter.

Both organisations want to promote safe and effective systems of medicines management and, under the memorandum, through collaboration with other health-related organisations in the wider Commonwealth, they will seek to improve the use of medicines through providing expertise to support the access to and development of education for pharmacy professionals around better use of medicines, and research to demonstrate the benefits of pharmacists to patient care and the better use of medicines. “The shared aims and goals of our two organisations provides the perfect environment to formalise existing collaborations and joint working, which is an important step forward for FIP and CPA, now and in the future. Having two international organisations working in mutually beneficial and positive ways provides an excellent framework for similar collaborations at local levels, which we will both support and encourage through our agreed work programmes in FIP Education, specifically our Workforce Development Hub. We look forward to working closely with CPA and our global partners, commonwealth partners and member organizations,” said FIP CEO Catherine Duggan.

However, in the coming year, the focus will be on further collaborative work between FIP Education and the CPA on workforce development. “I am delighted to formalise the commitment of both organisations to work together around developing this recommendation and delivering FIP's global Pharmacy Workforce Development Goals for the Commonwealth. The shared vision of the two organisations around this objective is clear, and it is with a collaborative spirit that we sign a memorandum of understanding, for the benefit of the Commonwealth’s pharmacy workforce and, ultimately, the people that we serve. We have so much to look forward to achieving for the profession hand in hand on a global stage,” Ms Rutter said.