Letter to Members, Observers and Sister Fora
EuroPharm Forum News August 2009
Dear Colleagues and Friends
I trust that you have enjoyed a nice summer and are now fit and ready for the many challenges, but also the many opportunities, that we face in pharmacy practice.
EuroPharm Forum Activities at FIP Congress
Soon, many of us will meet at the FIP Congress in Istanbul. If you are present at the Congress, I invite you to visit our poster booth where it will be our pleaseure to discuss the recent developments and activities of the EuroPharm Forum with you. The booth will be manned immediately following the opening ceremony on Friday, 4 September.
We will also introduce the
Observatory for pharmacy practice development on two occasions during the FIP Congress: We hope you will find time to listen in on the Practitioners' Day programme (organised by the Community Pharmacy Section) on Monday, 7 September at 10.45 where you can benefit from an oral presentation of the resource facilities contained in the Observatory. Moreover, you can visit our poster presentation on the Observatory at the poster session arranged by the Community Pharmacy Section.
EuroPharm Forum 18th Annual Meeting
On 8-10
October, the
18th Annual Meeting (incl. the General Assembly) of the EuroPharm Forum takes place in Budapest.
Professional Sessions: Obesity Mental Health Rx to OTC
Our Hungarian colleagues, the Hungarian National Committee of Pharmaceutical Care, have been most successful in arranging both
professional programmes and a
social programme which are likely to be attractive to our audience. The headline of the professional day is
Joining Forces, and we believe that we will, beyond becoming more knowledgeable within the areas of obesity and mental health, also be able to draft a model for future work with our professional partners in Europe. It is no secret that several organisations work in the same prevailing professional areas, and joining forces will lead to better results for the patients; of this I am certain.
General Assembly: Saturday, 10 October
I have just met with my colleagues in the Executive Committee of the EuroPharm Forum, and we discussed the planning of the
General Assembly. The participants in the
Consultation meeting in May provided us with some clear directions which we are working hard to follow.
If we focus on initiatives such as the Observatory, communication with members and observers, and future plans for the EuroPharm Forum we are doing more than fine from a professional and administrative point of view.
However, financially we are under pressure (mainly due to the loss of some of our largest member countries), and will continue to be under pressure unless we, the Executive Committee as well as the Forum members, begin to find alternative sources to finance the professional activities of the EuroPharm Forum. Hopefully, we can secure the necessary support and the Executive Committee looks forward to discuss this with all our members at the General Assembly.
EuroPharm Forum Country Database
Lastly, I will take this opportunity to thank those of our members who have already provided the Professional Secretariat with a 2009 update of country activities for the
Country Database. If you overlooked our invitation to send us an update, you are invited to send it now, and preferably before 15 September, to allow time to include your data before the Annual Meeting in October. It will indeed provide interesting reading and give you all a good insight into the on-going activities in each of our member countries before you meet your colleagues at the Annual Meeting.
Best regards
Dick Tromp
President, EuroPharm Forum
Home