EuroPharm Forum: 18th Annual Meeting

Budapest, Hungary
8-10 October 2009

Arranged in collaboration with our local hosts, the Hungarian National Committee of Pharmaceutical Care.

For a summation of the Professional Sessions organised during the 18th Annual Meeting, please follow this link.

General Assembly
The General Assembly of the EuroPharm Forum was attended by 54 participants from 19 member countries and 5 observer organisations and interest groups.

EuroPharm Forum President Th(Dick) Tromp (NET) opened the agenda of the General Assembly and welcomed the participants and official representatives of the Hungarian Parliament, the Ministry of Health and the WHO Country Office in Hungary. He congratulated the Hungarian National Committee of Pharmaceutical Care for their remarkable organisation of the meetings and social events.

Presidents of the Hungarian National Committee of Pharmaceutical Care, left to right:
Dr Sándor Szabó, Dr Antal Samu, Prof Gyöngyvér Soós

In his opening address, Dr Mihály Kökèny, President of the Health Committee of the Hungarian Parliament, focused on the role of the pharmacist in the influenza pandemic, which raised an apparent need for public information on prevention of transmission and the development of health policies, in light of which, ministries would be prepared to listen closely to the advice provided by public health.

Dr Mária Héjja, Head of the Pharmaceutical Department of the Ministry of Health, emphasised the importance of pharmacists, being first in line, in the process of prevention and empowerment of the individual to take action for the improvement of own health. She added that Hungarian legislation had recently strengthened the role of the pharmacist in Pharmaceutical Care.

Left to right: Nina Sautenkova, Manager, Pharmaceutical Policy in NIS, WHO Europe;
Zsófia Pusztai, Head, WHO Country Office in Hungary;
Mária Héjja, Head, Pharmaceutical Department, Ministry of Health;
Mihály Kökèny, President, Health Committee, Hungarian Parliament

Dr Zsófia Pusztai, Head of WHO Country Office, highlighted the historic relationship between the Forum and the WHO covering collaboration on patient care, health promotion and implementation of strategies and, latest, the Forum’s commitment to the Tallinn Declaration and the signing of a collaboration agreement. Despite being placed at a crossroads due to the declining membership, the WHO would like to see the Forum continue and develop the line of work in terms of preventive measures.

Ms Nina Sautenkova, Manager Pharmaceutical Policy in NIS, WHO Europe , shared with the audience her experiences from participation in the Executive Committee meetings, during which she had seen the Committee gain strength from the ordeals that the Forum had faced in the current global financial crisis.

Following the opening speeches, the President submitted the Annual Report of the Executive Committee highlighting the main activities, the dissatisfaction and loss of members, and the measures taken by the Executive Committee, eg the Consultation with members and observers in May, to resolve the critical issues (i.e. communication, professional profile, finances and collaboration with other organisations).

The Financial Results for 2008 and the current financial status for 2009 were presented and accepted by the General Assembly. There was a wish among the audience to recuperate outstanding membership fees from withdrawn members. The proposal of unchanged membership fee rates for 2010 was accepted by the General Assembly, whereas there was a decision to adjust the Budget 2010 to incoming membership fees so as to avoid spending money from the reserves.

The submission of the accounts was succeeded by the presentation of a draft Business and Marketing Plan developed from members’ advice provided at the Consultation in May. The document was supported by the General Assembly. Moreover, the EuroPharm Forum Vision to Practice 2020, presented in May, was accepted in its final format. Finally, the annexed summary of the Consultation meeting was accepted by the General Assembly.

The President invited the General Assembly to formally take note of the withdrawals of the Conseil National de l’Ordre des Pharmaciens/Union des Syndicats de Pharmacies d’Officine, the Swiss Pharmaceutical Society and the Consejo General de Colegios de Farmacéuticos de Espana and the Pharmacists’ Society of Latvia. These withdrawals were accepted. As for observers, the General Assembly accepted that the Executive Committee continue its approaches towards the European Forum for Primary Care with the aim of establishing a form of collaboration.

These items were followed by the President’s account of the circumstances leading up to the difficulties suffered in the Forum in the past year and of the strategic and corrective measures taken by the Executive Committee. Subsequently, the audience engaged in a thorough discussion of the future of the Forum, as a result of which, it was decided to appoint an advisory committee to assist in solving the challenges of the Forum; this would be a one-year process. Meanwhile, the level of professional activity in the Forum should be kept at a minimum. In consequence, the agreement with the host of secretariat would be drafted for one year and take into account the reduced budget due to member withdrawals.

The General Assembly accepted a proposal for a change of Statutes with regard to the criteria for membership and to the procedure surrounding amendment of statutes.

Elections were held for 3 seats on the Executive Committee. Two candidates were proposed, and both elected by the General Assembly for a term of 1 year: Lidija Petrusevska-Tozi (MKD) and Carin Svensson (SWE). Following these elections, the Committee was left with 1 vacancy in 2011. The President thanked Vice-president Astrid Kågedal for her committed work on the Committee in the past year.

Astrid Kågedal

As the last agenda item, the General Assembly accepted that the 19th Annual Meeting would be held in Copenhagen on 1 October 2010. This formally brought the General Assembly to an end.

Professional Sessions
On the day prior to and in the afternoon following the General Assembly, professional sessions were organised on joining forces on obesity and mental health as well as on deregulation of prescription-only medicines – the switch from RX to OTC. The sessions included a round table discussion with observer organisations aiming at identifying possible collaboration areas. The presentations from the professional sessions are available on the EuroPharm Forum website under the report of the 18th Annual Meeting.

EuroPharm Forum

18th Annual Meeting – Summary