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​​​​​​​​​Dr T.V. Narayana
President
South East Asian Region Pharmaceutical (SEARPharm) Forum International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)
The South East Asian Region Pharmaceutical Forum (SEARPharm) is pleased to now be an official constituency of FIP. We believe that this integration will enhance dialogue and collaboration among pharmaceutical associations in our region, improving both pharmacy practice and health.
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The South-East Asian region encompasses 11 countries, but accounts for over a quarter of the world’s population and has unique challenges. For example, it has 45% of the world’s annual incidence (new cases) of tuberculosis, and the forum has supported the development of pharmacists’ role in directly-observed therapy, short course (DOTS) in India. In our preparatory work towards integration, we identified that the following FIP Development Goals as priorities for our forum in 2024:
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DG 1 (Academic capacity)
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DG 2 (Early career training strategy)
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DG 4 (Advanced and specialist development)
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DG 5 (Competency development)
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DG 12 (Pharmacy intelligence)
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DG 15 (People-centred care)
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DG 16 (Communicable diseases)
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DG 17 (Antimicrobial stewardship)
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DG 19 (Patient safety)
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DG 20 (Digital health)
Our forum will also use the recently published World Health Organization “South East Asia Regional Roadmap for Results and Resilience” as an important reference. This roadmap makes clear that, as in other regions, progress with Sustainable Development Goal 3 (health and well-being) is off-track. It proposes some tactical approaches to improve progress in the region. One such approach is resource mobilisation and we know that pharmacists are a significant resource that can be utilised to support the vision of a healthier region. We strongly support the FIP Think Health, Think Pharmacy campaign. Indeed, other key priorities of the forum include preventing diseases through vaccinations in pharmacies, promoting self-care and common ailments management, addressing gender inequalities, and transforming the pharmaceutical workforce.
Workforce development
The forum is developing a proposal to gather pharmacy intelligence data regarding the deployment of registered pharmacists in India and surrounding countries. This work is a collaboration between the SEARPharm Forum, and the education division and students forum of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association and we will be sharing updates on our webpage in future.
Vaccinations in pharmacies
“Transforming patient choice and access in population health: Empowering pharmacists to vaccinate their communities in India” is a current forum project aimed to train Indian pharmacists as vaccinators, organised under agreement with FIP. Approved by FIP’s Board of Pharmaceutical Practice, this collaborative project involves FIP's Academic Pharmacy Section and Community Pharmacy Section, and the Indian Pharmaceutical Association — it is a great example of One FIP work. Enabling pharmacists in India to vaccinate will improve access to vaccination for the community, increasing vaccination coverage. In the first week of December 2023, 46 pharmacists underwent training in vaccination at Bangalore Baptist Hospital, and we plan for such training to continue.
We are looking forward to more collaborative work under the auspices of FIP. Our executive committee includes a secretary of pharmaceutical practice (and we are honoured to have FIP vice president Manjiri Gharat in this post), a secretary of pharmaceutical education and workforce development, a secretary of pharmaceutical sciences, and an observer from the FIP Early Career Pharmaceutical Group. I hope that you have found this introduction to the SEARPharm Forum of interest, and encourage fellow members in the region to get involved in our work. We can be contacted at searpharm@fip.org.
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Best wishes,
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