The establishment of a global Taskforce on Pharmacy Education and Workforce, leading to the establishment, for the first time, of a focussed effort through FIP Education Initiatives. Amongst other developments, this led to the formation of a global Deans and academic institutional (universities) membership (AIM); the Education Development Team (EDT), and subsequent incorporation into FIP Statutes as FIPEd.

Global consultations led to the creation and implementation of a Pharmacy Education Action Plan.

The establishment of FIP Education (FIPEd) and the FIPEd Development team.

The launch of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provided a new framework for aligning pharmacy’s role with global health and sustainability objectives.

The Global Conference on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education, held in Nanjing, China, in November 2016, marked a historic milestone. This consensus-building event gathered over 600 participants from 95 countries and regions, encompassing various sectors and stakeholders in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. The conference established key development milestones for the education and workforce development of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists, crafting a global vision aimed at transforming education in these fields.

Following extensive consultation, three seminal documents were presented and adopted at the global conference, which has been subsequently used worldwide. These were:

A Global Vision for Education and Workforce that provided a description of the future directions of our profession and how education can support the evolution of science and practice.

A set of agreed 13 Pharmaceutical Workforce Development Goals (PWDGs) that supported the delivery of a pharmaceutical workforce as part of the global challenge. The PWDGs provided a global vision and framework for advancing the pharmacy workforce in various aspects, such as education, competency, leadership, advocacy, diversity, and well-being. These were supported by a set of FIP Statements (standards) launched at the FIP Nanjing conference in November 2016.

The Nanjing Statements: A set of 67 statements that describe an envisioned future for education, to enable the enhancement of professional education standards worldwide. These statements were launched to confirm commitment to action by FIP to support members implementing the PWDGs. The FIP Council agreed in September 2021, to update the 2016 Nanjing Statements for adoption in 2024. To update the Nanjing Statements, FIP has established a FIP Policy Committee to review the statements.

In 2018, the FIP launched the Pharmaceutical Workforce Development Hub (WDH) as a platform to support the implementation of the PWDGs. The implementation of this WDH was a progression from the previous, and highly successful, Education Development Team (EDT), which was itself established by the FIP Education Initiatives of 2012.

The WDH aimed to gain a better understanding of the global education landscape, innovations in education, and new methods and tools in specific areas of workforce development. WDH experts worked with wider forums and expert groups to implement their work plan through literature reviews, case-study development, policy analyses, and quantitative and qualitative research, to develop evidence-based frameworks and guidance, and to inform policy and practice development.

The WDH also connected and supported units within FIP and external to FIP (for example WHO Human Resources for Health) to achieve the goal of transforming the global pharmaceutical workforce to meet the health needs of societies.

2018 was the publication date of a major look at current capacity within the global workforce and for the first time was able to analyse the growth trends in the workforce. This data-gathering effort also helped to kick-start discussions on establishing a more sustainable Global Observatory for members, subsequently launched as the FIP Global Pharmaceutical Observatory (GPO).

In the same year, the FIP published a summative report titled “Pharmacy at a glance: 2015-2017” that outlined the evidence base for the contribution of pharmacy to the global health workforce agendas. The report presented data and information on the global pharmacy workforce, such as the number, distribution, density, education, regulation, and roles of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The report also highlighted the achievements and challenges of the FIP’s work on workforce development, education, and transformation. The report aimed to inform and inspire the FIP members and partners to act towards achieving the PWDGs and improving the health outcomes of their populations.

Historically, in 2018, the FIP was a signatory of the “Astana Declaration on Primary Health Care: From Alma-Ata towards UHC and SDGs”. The declaration was signed by the WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and representatives of states and governments in Astana, Kazakhstan in October 2018. The declaration reaffirmed the commitment to strengthen PHC as the foundation of UHC. The declaration emphasised the critical role of PHC around the world and called for action from all stakeholders to achieve it.

Following adoption of the Astana declaration, the organisation re-grouped the principal FIP workstreams into 3 primary policy areas (mapped to the UN delivery targets):

• Non-communicable diseases
• Safety
• Prevention

Within just six months of Astana, FIP held its first regional conference – in the Eastern Mediterranean region – on ways and means of transforming primary health care (Amman, Jordan, April 2019). Around 1200 pharmacy leaders and participants from more than 30 countries gathered to sign the first pharmacy commitment to PHC as our collective response to the Astana Declaration: the “Amman Commitment to Action on Primary Health Care” to transform pharmacy for better primary health care.

A subsequent FIP Regional Conference for the European Region: “Delivering primary health care: Pharmacists taking the next leap forward” was a landmark event that brought together over 800 pharmacy professionals from 37 countries to share their experiences, challenges, and best practices on workforce development, education, and transformation. The conference was jointly organised by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and the Turkish Pharmacists’ Association (TPA) in Ankara October 2018.  At this conference, pharmacy leaders and pharmacists representing 37 countries signed the Ankara Commitment to Action on Primary Health Care.

In 2019, FIP and the World Health Organization (WHO) took a further significant and historic step towards ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all. A joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with WHO was negotiated which served to strengthen global collaboration in these critical areas. FIP remains one of the very few healthcare professions to have negotiated and signed such an agreement with WHO.

 
FIP CEO, Dr Catherine Duggan and WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

• This historic MOU was not just the beginning of a new partnership, but rather a reaffirmation and intensification of a relationship that has been in place since 1948. For over seven decades, FIP and WHO have been working together to improve global health outcomes, and this MOU marked a renewed commitment to these goals.
• Key areas of collaboration include:
  • Patient safety;
  • Antimicrobial resistance;
  • Medicines shortages;
  • Strengthening pharmaceutical workforce and education;
  • Access to safe and quality medicines; and
  • Non-communicable diseases.

In 2020, the release of updated versions of FIP’s Global Advanced Development Framework and FIP Global Competency Frameworks have been made:

• FIP Global Competency Framework is a validated framework intended to act as a “mapping tool” for individuals to progress towards effective and sustained performance and to pave the way into advanced practice. The framework defines behavioural competencies that can contribute towards supporting foundation level practitioner development.
• FIP Global Advanced Development Framework is a validated tool intended to support the professional development and recognition of the pharmacy workforce.

Following the widespread successes of the Nanjing Workforce Development Goals (see 2016 above), in September 2020, FIP launched the FIP Development Goals (DGs). These goals are a key resource for transforming the pharmacy profession over the next decade globally, regionally, and nationally. They are designed to align with the FIP mission to support global health by enabling the advancement of pharmaceutical practice, sciences, and education. The work built on the original Pharmaceutical Workforce Development Goals, eventually resulting in 21 FIP Development Goals – worldwide goals for transforming global pharmacy.

Each of the goals is composed of practice, science, and workforce elements. Alongside each element is a set of tools and structures to facilitate and support the process of transformation.

Watch the FIP Development Goals Digital Launch Event here.

Since the launch of the Development Goals, FIP has conducted structured work to identify priorities and challenges across nations linked to the DGs. The FIP Development Goals Report 2021, Setting goals for the decade ahead, provides a global status update on the goals one year on since their launch. In particular, the FIP GPO has been conducting surveillance work with Members under the Multinational Needs-based Assessment Programme (MNAP).

In 2021, the “FIP Global Humanitarian Competency Framework — Supporting pharmacists and the pharmaceutical workforce in a humanitarian arena” was developed by an FIP working group comprising practitioners in areas of conflict or emergency, including in disaster response and refugee camps, advisors to United Nations and other non-governmental international agencies, and experts in the development of competency frameworks. This framework guides the development of pharmacists practising or wishing to practise in the humanitarian field, providing pharmaceutical expertise and services during disasters, including wars. Then, in 2022, FIP committed to humanitarian support in crises and disasters.

In 2022, FIP developed and published a global roadmap to 2030. This ‘Roadmap’ offers our members and partners a strategic glimpse into FIP’s future vision for transforming pharmacy on a global scale, aligning with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. It tackles the challenges related to progress and transformation, asking the question “How can global pharmacy evolve and contribute to the global Sustainable Development agenda?” The Roadmap is designed to serve as a facilitative tool for all our constituencies.

Moreover, in June 2022, the FIP Bureau approved ambitious plans to implement the migration of the existing Workforce Development Hub (WDH) into a wider scope and more integrated FIP-Hub, supporting the delivery of our ONE FIP programmes across all principal constituencies of FIP. 

The culmination of this transition and the official launch of the new integrated FIP Hub was announced on 4 September 2023. The new Hub encapsulates all elements of the current FIP Development Goals framework, offering a dedicated space for related project work and development activities. Moreover, it reinforces the broader FIP mission, uniting our constituencies in a shared purpose. Aligned with our commitment to the Astana Declaration on primary health care in 2018, the FIP Hub will serve as a focal point for engaged and impactful global development of workforce, practice and science.

In 2022, FIP published The FIP Global Competency Framework for Educators & Trainers in Pharmacy (FIP-GCFE), a tool to support advancement and competence development for our colleagues around the world, serving in any sector of pharmaceutical education. It was initiated by the Academic Pharmacy Section of FIP and created in collaboration across FIP, involving our leads, experts, and volunteers across the Federation.

FIP also published the Competency-based education in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences: A FIP handbook to support implementation of competency-based education and training which provides step-by-step guidance for educators to implement CBE concepts in their initial pharmacy education and training. It also supports the implementation of CBE concepts in continuing professional development, post-graduate programmes and other lifelong learning settings. The handbook helps to achieve FIP Development Goal 5 (Competency development), with major relevance to Development Goal 1 (Academic capacity).

The Accelerating towards 2030: Workforce transformation for better health” symposium, held on 26 September 2023 during the 81st FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Brisbane, Australia, marked a key moment in our journey toward a global vision for the pharmaceutical workforce. This event represented a mid-term point between the transformative 2016 FIP Global Conference on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education in Nanjing, China, and the World Health Organization’s Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health 2030 ambitions.

Symposium Highlights:

• Mid-Term Review: The symposium provided an essential opportunity to review and refresh our global pharmacy workforce transformation objectives.
• Consensus Development: Participants from over 40 countries, leveraging expert insights and the latest evidence from the FIP Global Pharmaceutical Observatory and the FIP Hub, developed a consensus on the “Brisbane Calls to Action.”
• Revised Mission Plan: There was strong support for developing a revised mission plan for our global workforce, emphasising the integration and alignment of the GPO (our intelligence data source) with the Hub (our home to expert leads).

At the 82nd FIP World Congress in Cape Town, the FIP Brisbane Calls to Action (CtA) Workshop convened on Tuesday, 3rd September from 07:30 to 09:00 AM. This pivotal session highlighted the progress made and the strategic plans developed over the past year, focusing on workforce transformation and planning for 2030. The workshop provided an opportunity for Member Organisations (MOs) to review, discuss, and reach a consensus on proposed activities related to the Brisbane CtAs, ensuring they align with FIP’s strategic goals for transforming the pharmacy workforce by the year 2030.

This collaboration is important for developing a robust action plan to achieve the Calls to Action, ensuring that our global pharmacy workforce transformation objectives are met in alignment with FIP Development Goals and WHO priorities.

Working with our member organisations: FIP’s Workforce Transformation Programme (WTP) is a practical and flexible model which will assist countries in assessing their pharmacy workforce needs and priorities, support them in developing needs-based national workforce strategies and infrastructure, and provide co-created solutions, tools, mechanisms and resources for implementation. FIP’s member organisation, the Jordan Pharmacists Association (JPA), was the first national pharmacy leadership body to join the programme.

Pharmacy Workforce Transformation in Malaysia

Pharmacists in Malaysia have essential roles in delivering healthcare services and to achieving Universal Health Coverage through quality primary healthcare service provision. The workforce transformation project in Malaysia aims to examine the development of a competent pharmaceutical workforce that is adaptable in tackling primary healthcare challenges, particularly concerning medicines. Evidence-based analysis and data from this project are crucial to inform workforce planning and scope of practice for Malaysian pharmacists. This is particularly aligned with DG12: Pharmacy intelligence. The workforce element of this DG focuses on the availability of a national strategy and actions related to collecting and sharing workforce data, as well as workforce planning.