Around the Commonwealth: Pharmacists assess global threats to health

Pharmacists have a “key responsibility” in the fight against swine and bird flu, man-made and natural-born diseases and other viruses and illnesses, a major health conference in Accra heard last week.

The 10th Conference of the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA), held in the Ghanaian capital, tackled the topic ‘Managing Threats and Crises - the vital role of pharmacy in an unstable world’.

“Issues like bird flu and the credit crunch make us aware of the vulnerable world in which we live,” conference chairman Dr Alex Dodoo said, calling on health professionals to be aware of issues that “happen outside our profession but impact on patient care”.

Advocates for positive change

The conference, which lasted between 5 and 8 August 2009, attracted pharmacists from 40 Commonwealth nations as well as the USA, France, Thailand, Sweden and Switzerland.

Dr Dodoo, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, which helped organise the conference, said it had been designed to cover issues such as “child abuse, women molestation, and lack of access to health” that were not “traditionally” covered at previous conferences.

He commented: “We were very keen to have a conference which was memorable – something that would be unique ... to not go down the traditional way and talk just about professionalism. We wanted something extra.”

In the conference’s final communiqué, the CPA – an association first established in 1970 and which today boasts more than 1,500 members – called on health professionals to be “alert” to the “current and potential” threats to the health, welfare and safety of their patients and communities.

The statement affirmed the association’s commitment to human rights and to working for the rights of children. It also called on the profession to “become advocates for positive change - to collaborate with others, locally, nationally and internationally in the alleviation of suffering and the anticipation and prevention of crises.”

'Voice of the voiceless'

“Pharmacists in industry bear key responsibility for providing safe, efficacious and affordable medicines of quality, in their daily relationships and activities,” it said.

“In developing their vision of a better world all pharmacists should take leadership in many aspects of reducing risk and improving health throughout the Commonwealth and beyond.”

During the conference, delegates were able to visit people in local pharmacies and hospitals. As well as hearing the results of the latest research on pandemic diseases, malaria, HIV/AIDS, diabetes and hospital infections, they attended lectures on the impact of natural disasters on global health.

“As pharmacists we are the voice of the voiceless, the face of the faceless, and we are in a privileged position,” Dr Dodoo added, quoting from a keynote speech by Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah.

“But we should not just be dispensing behind the shelf. We should be standing in front of the shelf, standing for what is right, standing for what is good.”

Read the communiqué and media statement:

Communiqué and media statement issued by the 10th Commonwealth Pharmacists’ Association Conference

Secretariat Links:

• Country Profile: Ghana

Related Websites:

• Commonwealth Pharmacists Association