Looking to the future at Pharmacy Expo 2023

At its annual Pharmacy EXPO, held in Vancouver from May 16-18, the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada gathered its members—leaders from a majority of Canadian pharmacy banners as well as from manufacturers and suppliers to the industry—to meet each other and learn. Attendees heard from Hon, Anne McLellan, co-chair of the Coalition for a Better Future about how the Coalition (whose members include hundreds of Canadian companies, associations and advocacy groups) is working towards a more equitable and prosperous Canada. “Increased accessibility to all healthcare services for all Canadians is a crucial element of this strategy, because health accessibility (or lack thereof) is hurting Canada's standing in the world prosperity index [this country currently stands in 37th place, globally],” said McLellan. On behalf of its members, Neighbourhood Pharmacies has joined the Coalition and has signed on to support its ambitious goals, which include among many others, robust investment in R&D, income parity and a net zero Carbon output by 2050. Individual members from both the pharma industry and pharmacies have made their own commitments to these goals, stressed Neighbourhood Pharmacies’ CEO Sandra Hanna. While to goals of the coalition may appear to be very high level, most if not all of these overarching issues and goals trickle down to health policy and how it serves pharmacy. A global focus While Canada’s provincial pharmacy advocacy groups are grappling with the day-to-day issues impacting the profession, the national association representing pharmacies and their ownership continues to work at a high level to move the needle on a number of key issues that impact the health of the sector. In a town hall discussion, Hanna and Sr VP of pharmacy affairs and strategic engagement Shelita Dattani explained how the association has been working at the federal level to ensure that pharmacy is included in national discussions in issues ranging from drug shortages to healthcare accessibility. Dattani noted that she meets with Health Canada two to three times a week on various issues. One strategy the group has used successfully, they say, is to promote the concept of community pharmacies as “Community Health Hubs” in communication with other health and government stakeholders. Read: Navigating drug shortages in Canada: challenges and solutions for healthcare professionals At the annual national Council of the Federation this summer, the association will once again hold a reception for the members of the provincial and federal ministries of health. The association is looking beyond this country in both its advocacy and its approach to seeking ideas and solutions to some of the issues facing the profession and business of pharmacy both now and in the future. Later in May, Hanna and Dattani will be presenting at the World Council of Pharmacy meeting in New York City to describe the impact and challenges of Canada’s pharmacy services scope of practice progress and to meet with leaders from other countries to discuss how they are managing the challenges of drug shortages. “We are not regulators,” said Hanna, “but we can act as advocates for the profession. As part of our mandate as a national association we are always observing and learning what is happening elsewhere, what can we learn from them and what are the risks as well as benefits [of various new developments].”

Looking to the future at Pharmacy Expo 2023

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics