Board of Pharmaceutical Practice Annual Report 2009-2010

Introduction

As an integral component of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice (BPP) is the organization's home for a broad base of the practitioner community. Composed of nine sections and governed by a Board represented by the Section presidents and secretaries, the BPP is a dynamic group of volunteers assisted by several FIP staff members who engage in present and future study, discussion, planning and execution of a broad variety of engagements. As the reader will note from the narrative below, the Board and its component Sections strive to be at the ‘cutting edge' of practice developments and in so doing, works to bring a variety of projects, educational opportunities, resources and reports to the individual and organizational FIP membership. This was also an important year for the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice in the selection of the 2010 Andre Bedat awardee. The BPP congratulates Prof. ‘Charlie' Benrimoj on having been selected and extends to him its most heartiest congratulations.

Engagement in FIP's Governance

The Professional Secretary serves in a variety of roles on behalf of the BPP and FIP as a whole. First of all, he serves to coordinate the work of the Board and works in an advisory and facilitating role with the Chair of the Board, Professor Philip J. Schneider. Creating meeting agendas, assuring appropriate reference materials for deliberations of the Board, facilitating communications between Sections and between the BPP and the Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences, reflecting practice perspectives on organizational matters and an array of related duties consume the time of this position. Additionally, the Professional Secretary serves as a member of the Bureau, the Executive Committee of FIP and the FIP Research and Education Foundation. In all of these roles, the work of the Professional Secretary focuses on assuring constructive and authoritative communication as well as connecting the professional world of the pharmacist in its varied roles to the overall work of FIP. It has been my personal pleasure to have served in these roles and activities and I trust that my contributions have enhanced the overall achievements of the BPP and FIP.

Completion of the cycle of working groups-have now covered the six strategic areas of the Mission and Strategic Plan
I have previously reported on the Mission and Strategic Plan for the BPP as it was developed four years ago and as it was revised and modified over the years. The six strategic areas established as priorities for the Board, [Patient Safety, Economic Models for Reimbursement, Good Pharmacy Practice, Collaborative Practice, Pharmacy Workforce, Pharmacy Education] have been addressed through Working Groups and Task Forces. The Reports of several of these groups have been completed and have served as useful guides for FIPs work with the World Health Organization and with member organizations. The most recent appointment of a Working Group on Patients as Partners will conclude in an authoritative paper on the relationship between pharmacists and patients to assure efficient and effective drug therapy outcomes. A final report is currently in development and will likely be available in Fall, 2010. Several of the papers have been published in the International Pharmacy Journal (IPJ) while others have become substantive portions of FIP reports to the World Health Organization.

From Reference Paper to Policy: GPP and Collaborative Practice

Two years ago, it was decided that FIP should create its professional and scientific policies from well articulated and evidence-based manuscript. Such products were termed as Reference Papers. It was planned to submit these papers to the member organizations from broad comment and that they then would be edited and finalized. The final Reference Paper would then be submitted to a Working Group on Public Policy in order for policy statements to be created. At the meeting of the Council at Lisbon, the Reference Paper on Good Pharmacy Practice and its derivative policy statement will be discussed and a policy statement on Collaborative Practice will be discussed and acted on.

Awaiting Development: Compounding, Procurement

Two additional areas have been identified for elaboration into Reference Papers and policies: extemporaneous compounding and guidelines on drug procurement (updating the 1992 document). While both of these areas are important for practice and policy, the current limitation on fiscal and human resource necessitated deferring the development of expert documents. These two issues will be taken up at a later time.

Present: Child and Maternal Health

Working from major initiatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) around child and maternal health, an ad hoc Committee on Medicines for Children, chaired by Vice President Régis Vaillancourt was appointed by the Bureau. Drawing on several experts in this area, several recommendations were made by the ad hoc group to the Bureau, including the necessity for creating a Reference Paper on Child and Maternal Health and the Role of the Pharmacist. Such a Working Group has now been established and each of the BPP Sections have been asked to contribute to the deliberations of this body, to include dosage form development, dosing protocols, preventive services, interventional and therapeutic management and population based professional services. It is hoped that the final paper prepared by the Working Group will aid WHO in integrating pharmacists from a variety of areas into the critical country programs for mothers and children.

 

Professional Symposia Planning

It is the responsibility of the Professional Secretary to oversee the creation and implementation of the professional program at the annual FIP Congress. In this effort, the professional secretary is aided by a Program Committee chaired by Professor Martin Schulz. This active group of practitioners and subject experts advises on the Congress theme for approval by the Bureau. After the theme has been finalized, four professional symposia with three to four major lecture topics are devised. An international array of speakers is then created. This planning work is informed by the FIP Quality Framework so as to assure the quality of the presentations for maximum learning by attendees. I'd like to take the opportunity of this Report to thank the following individuals for their contributions to the Congress professional program: Martin Schulz, Bob DeChristoforo, Bente Frøkjær, Ema Paulino, Philip Schneider, Lindsay McClure, Han de Gier and Luc Besançon.

Joint BPP and BPS Symposia Planning

Working collaboratively with the Scientific Secretary Dr. Vinod Shah, the BPP has had several major successes in joint board program on topics of mutual interest. Blending the expertise of pharmaceutical scientists and pharmacy practitioners, programs on pharmaceutical waste and disposal, pharmacogenomics and translational science have been offered at the annual Congress in Istanbul. Several joint programs are planned for Lisbon in the areas of drug development and risk mitigation, nanomedicine in clinical practice and antibiotic stewardship.

Section activities

Each of the Board's nine sections has engaged in a myriad of activities. Their individual Section reports will be presented elsewhere. It should be mentioned here that each Section has presented major trends in their areas of expertise to the full Board. There has been much discussion around these trends and they will likely serve as the motivators for future Section programs and activities. Sections have also been challenged to create business plans around activities that may assist in bringing new revenue to the Board and FIP through a variety of means that draw on the expertise and uniqueness of the Section capabilities. Sections are also focusing on better integration with each other and relevant Special Interest Groups of the Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Section Congress Symposia
An integral part of Section work is the preparation and offering of educational programs at the annual FIP congress. A perusal of the Lisbon program book will give the reader an appreciation for the depth and breadth of these offerings. Sections work diligently to identify contemporary areas of content in order to provide relevant education and learning. More focus is being placed on collaborative Section offerings that bring two or more Sections together in program planning.

Section Special Projects

The BPP has for several years made a modest amount of funding available for special projects. This year projects were funded for the Academic Pharmacy Section, the Community Pharmacy Section, the Administrative Pharmacy Section and the Military and Emergency Pharmacy Section.

BPP and BPS Relationship

It has become eminently clear that professional pharmacy practice is founded on the principles and learnings of several basic and pharmaceutical sciences. As the profession moves more toward assuring rational therapeutics and accountable care, it is equally clear that evidence-based decision-making must be rooted in scientific findings and strong clinical judgment predicated on the learnings from science. In that vein, both boards have enhanced their communications and expanded their offerings of joint programming. The important relationship between the two boards have been further elucidated through an ad hoc Committee that addressed this topic, chaired by Ms. Eeva Terasalmi. A series of recommendations have been produced and these are now being implemented in order to strengthen the bond between the two boards and consequently allow FIP to draw on this unique strength.

PharmaBridge

Under the continued strong leadership of Ms. Agathe Wehrli, PharmaBridge is an FIP program that brings together the pharmacist needs and offerings of the developed world with those of the developing world. Individuals are placed for rotations and other experiential programs, books and other learning resources are provided, communication established between practitioners and educators throughout the work seeking assistance and several other initiatives. A cadre of committed individuals work with Ms. Wehrli to assure placement sites and to identify the availability of resource materials.

 

Pharmacy Education

In FIPs strategic vision for 2020, pharmacy education was identified as a critical precursor to a well educated, trained and developed workforce for practice and for science. Consequent to this strategic vision, a Task Force for Pharmacy Education under the leadership of Professor Ian Bates of the University of London has been operational for the past four years. The Professional Secretary serves as the Liaison between this Task Force and the Bureau. The Academic Pharmacy Section, as well as other BPP Sections have also affirmed and engaged in the work of this Task Force. The future of pharmacy educational development around the world is of utmost importance to the Board and its respective Sections; hence, their engagement will be most important as future directions are considered for the Task Force on Pharmacy Education.

 

BPPs Future: BPP ExCo review, BPP review, Section Presidents review

Over the course of the past year, the entire board has been reviewing the present state of the BPP and has begun to identify what it needs to do to assure continued impact and success within the FIP and externally to other organizations and the field itself. Specific initiatives are currently being identified and articulated. Section introspection is currently on-going in order to assure strength of mission and goals for the future to include leadership development, programming directions, member recruitment and retention and fiscal resources. The Chair of the Board has met individually with each of the Section presidents to establish definitive goals and directions for each Section. These will be reviewed and integrated by the Board in the forthcoming year.

Leadership Transition

Professor Philip Schneider of the United States of America concludes his four year term as the Board's Chair at the conclusion of the Lisbon Congress. It has been my unique privilege to have served with Professor Schneider and to have marked his leadership impact throughout the Board and the FIP. We extend our sincerest and deepest gratitude to Mr. Schneider for all he has contributed to the continued evolution and strengthening of the BPP.
At its meeting in March, 2010, the Board elected Professor Andy Gray of South Africa as the successor Chair of the BPP. We welcome Dr. Gray's leadership and look forward to working with him in the forthcoming years.

Conclusion

This report has highlighted the work of the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice. None of the work reported could have been accomplished without the volunteer leadership of the members of the Board, the volunteer members of the Section governance structures and the FIP staff. I wish to thank them all for oftentimes making my job a bit easier but most of all, to thank them for the commitment that each of them make toward the advancement of pharmacy in all its forms and settings as well as strengthening the work of FIP.

It is my honor to serve the Board as its Professional Secretary. I thank Phil Schneider for his Chairmanship for the period 2006-2010.

Respectfully submitted,

Prof. Henri R. Manasse, Jr., Ph.D., Sc.D.,FFIP