Stockholm • 21 May 2017
We are now operating in a globalised world of research and manufacturing and this not only implies opportunities for pharmaceutical scientists but will help us to respond to global health threats, said Dr Carmen Peña, President of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), as she opened the 6th Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress in Stockholm, Sweden, today. The bringing together of different fields of expertise, sectors and nationalities will help solve health issues, she said.
“Integration will become the key word in the success of the pharmaceutical sciences,” Dr Peña said. “Integration also means that borders between clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance are shifting to allow faster access to innovations while limiting risks for patients.”
Dr Peña acknowledged the prominent position that “new players” have gained in research and development so that, finally, neglected diseases have become priorities: “We are moving into a more open-access model, as requested by an increasing number of public and philanthropic funders, to reinforce social accountability.”
The FIP President also noted that, for the first time, scientific research has been highlighted as a contributor to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. “Every government in the world will have to report their progress around two major indicators. The first is research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP, and the second is the number of researchers per million inhabitants,” she said,
Dr Peña then called on scientists, pharmacy practitioners and educators to work together with others in order to respond to “pressing health care needs”.
“Preparing a sustainable success of pharmaceutical sciences is no small task. It will require extensive and coordinated efforts to ensure that there will be a sufficient number of pharmaceutical scientists with the appropriate skills to respond to the coming challenges,” she said.
Notes for editors
About FIP & PSWC 2017
The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is the global federation of national associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists, and is in official relations with the World Health Organization. Through its 139 member organisations, it represents over three million practitioners and scientists around the world. FIP’s 6th Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress is being held in Stockholm, Sweden, from 21 to 24 May. Over a thousand pharmaceutical scientists and pharmacists from 73 countries have gathered to talk about drug discovery and development under the theme “Future medicines for one world”, which focuses on systems biology. www.fip.org
PRESS CONTACT
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