Key priorities and challenges in pharmaceutical professional education and training systems across 21 selected countries were released in a new report from the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). The report is one of a series developed under the federation’s Multinational Needs Assessment Programme, which aims to provide evidence-based policy on workforce development, mapped against FIP’s 21 Development Goals. This report highlights systems, tools and mechanisms available to support global workforce transformation, in line with the FIP Brisbane Calls to Actions launched on the fifth anniversary of the 2018 Astana Declaration on Primary Health Care.
“Investment in the development of the pharmacy workforce has been recognised as crucial for achieving universal health coverage and one of the ways in which FIP is delivering workforce transformation is through its Multinational Needs Assessment Programme, which is powered by the FIP Global Pharmaceutical Observatory,” said Professor Ian Bates, director, FIP Global Pharmaceutical Observatory.
The work to produce this report undertook a mixed methods approach, comprising surveys, alongside stakeholder and leadership interviews with national leadership bodies to collect data. Among the key findings are that a majority of ongoing priorities and programmes delivered by the leadership organisations are related to people-centred care and patient safety, indicating a strong commitment to improving the quality of pharmaceutical healthcare services. However, there are ongoing challenges in maintaining a sufficient and sustainable supply of pharmacy professionals and there is a clear need to enhance advanced and specialist training worldwide.
The findings also indicate needs and opportunities to support workplace-based education and training and the use of professional portfolios. “Our findings highlight the importance of capacity building and competency development in improving the overall quality of pharmaceutical healthcare delivery. The next phase of this project will involve design and delivery of an education and training intervention, and its evaluation. Further evaluations to identify global gaps and needs will be conducted,” Professor Bates said.
He added that the intelligence provided by the report can be used by FIP members to better evaluate their situation in comparison with other countries and align national interventions to address identified gaps.
