Letter to Members, Observers and Sister Fora
Member Report October 2008
Dear Colleagues
It was a pleasure – for my fellow Executive Committee members and myself – to see the support so obviously demonstrated by our members towards the Forum during the General Assembly in October. I want to thank you for your trust and support. It feels very good to be supported by you, our members. At the same time, we recognise that we face a number of challenges for the future. This was discussed at our first, very short Executive Committee meeting during the Annual Meeting, and I am happy to report that the Committee is ready to take on the challenge.
Ultimatum delivered by the General Assembly: Communicate!
Of all the important messages that came across to the Executive Committee during the General Assembly, perhaps the most important one (the ‘ultimatum’) was to increase the communication with Forum members. This is an appeal that we take very seriously, and it was among the top items on the agenda of my first Management Team Meeting with Pharmakon and the Forum Secretariat on 20-21 October. Together, we have outlined various actions aimed at improving the success rate for communication with you. Apart from mapping the technical difficulties encountered with the various sorts of electronic communication applied, the Secretariat will be in touch with all of you shortly in order to obtain contact data for multiple persons in your associations based on the motto “Over-communication is better than no communication”. We ask for your kind assistance in this process.
Relationship to observer organisations
Another message that came across was the importance of having network relationships, in particular to the WHO, PGEU and FIP. I have been in contact with these organisations since the General Assembly and am currently in the midst of a series of meetings with them. I will discuss the results of these meetings at the coming meeting of the Executive Committee. It is my positive impression that our ‘counterparts’ are very pleased to engage in an improved relationship with our Forum.
Inspiration of Professional Programme
The third message that came across was about the professional work of the Forum. Many of you want to be ‘inspired’ by activities of the Forum (the Eureka feeling). The Secretariat, staff at Pharmakon and I have taken on this challenge and will be working at developing a plan for discussion at the next Executive Committee meeting. Pharmakon – as a WHO Collaborating Centre – is in a favourable position to support us in the developments. I consider this a nice challenge.
The new Executive Committee will meet again in mid-December. Shortly thereafter, I shall bring you a report of the issues addressed by the Committee, especially on communication, network connections and ‘inspiration’.
Dick Tromp
President, EuroPharm Forum
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