Pharmacy building a sustainable future for healthcare – Aligning goals to 2030
The global health context has changed dramatically. We have all experienced the world’s biggest healthcare crisis in centuries. Countries spend more on health, as the population is ageing and the burden of chronic diseases is growing; novel and expensive medicines and health technologies become available; and demand for better health is increasing as people’s income grows. Prevention is becoming more important as well as selfcare.
Countries all over the world seek sufficient and sustainable funding for the future of the health systems, but at the same time the gap between financial needs and actual spending continue to be a problem.
At the same time the UN Sustainable Development Goals put significant pressure on governments to maintain and scale up health services. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition – but money can buy health only if it is spent equitably and efficiently. When people are given the opportunity to be active participants in their own care, instead of passive recipients, their human rights respected, the outcomes are better and health systems become more efficient. In this perspective FIP is supporting our members to transform pharmacy for the benefits of countries and their populations.
With strong research environments and a well-developed health-care system in ‘the new normal’, we have a unique position to develop an innovative health system that provides solutions to these global challenges.
Cooperation between the life science actors provides new perspectives, increases knowledge, and binds together competence, so that we can develop new and effective medicines and health technologies, develop the pharmacy workforce and pharmacy practice, and by this supporting a sustainable healthcare model for the future.
FIPs mission is to support global health by advancing pharmaceutical practice, science and workforce & education. Our global roadmap serves to set forth our global commitment to the 2030 Agenda for development and advancement to provide our members with a way to commit nationally, regionally and globally.
The future of pharmacy will evolve towards spending more time with patients. Technology and digitalisation will support the transformation of pharmacy, improving patient care and for patient-pharmacist relationships to strengthen, as well as strengthening collaboration with other healthcare professionals – as together we are stronger. Collaboration is key in the future. The technological advancements will also speed up medicine research, clinical trials and the manufacturing processes. These advancements will complement human interaction and will also create needs for change – in pharmaceutical sciences, education and workforce as well as in pharmacy practice.
Innovative technologies will continue to shape our lives, and when it comes to healthcare, they can – and have shown during the last years – to provide huge benefits to patients, pharmacists, and physicians alike, contributing to a more sustainable healthcare system.
And let us not forget about the huge potential the future of pharmacy holds in terms of improving the general public health of our societies. We are now experiencing a most exciting development – a development that disrupts the current healthcare system, at the same time as it improves it for the better.
The pharmacist is at the centre of opportunities.
