Pharmacists & Pharmacy Leadership:
Making a Difference in Global Health

HOWARD UNIVERSITY CONTINUING EDUCATION (HUCE)

NOVEMBER 12, 2004

8:30 AM – 4:00 PM

WELCOME AND OCCASION

Rosalyn Cain King, Director

Pharmacists and Continuing Education (PACE) Center

Good Morning, Everyone!

Welcome to the Dialogue, a great conversation between 2 or more to exchange ideas and opinions…

Dr. Berry , Director of Howard University Continuing Education will bring greetings and welcome on behalf of Howard University .  But just let me reassure you that you are at Howard University , a prestigious University for the African Diaspora where we focus on producing “Leaders for America and the Global Community”.   Many are familiar with the main campus of Howard University in Northwest, Washington DC .  But there are 4 other campuses –

- the East Campus that houses the law school,
- the Northeast campus housing the School of Divinity ,
- there is the research area in Beltsville and
- you are at the Silver Spring location which houses Continuing Education. 

We are glad you are here.

In 1971, the American Public Health Association, in its American Journal of Public Health, published an article on The Pharmacist As A Member of the Health Team.   This article became a background piece used by many of the organizations in Pharmacy to broaden the discussion on what pharmacists can do as a part of the newly developing aggregation of professionals needed to address health problems of the day.  Pharmacists had been often perceived previously as disparate business owners, purveyors of products, unconnected.  This was also true of other health professionals groups of the time. 

Here we are in 2004, 33 years later, about to enter into a dialogue that is intended to more formally situate our profession within health care delivery not only in our individual locales, our states, our nation but as a part of the global health community.

We have not come to outline and present scholarly research, although there no doubt will be some introduced by speakers today.  We have not come to simply meet and greet but to engage – with purpose and direction - in a sharing of vision, experiences and  in a professional interchange. For some it may be an introduction and for others a renewal of an acquaintanceship.

An assortment of Physicians, pharmacists, public health professionals; educators compose our audience of “dialoguers”.  (We are after all permitted to invent new words as we go-  that is how we got the term weblogger”) 

We have members of the Argus Commission of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy . The AACP Argus Commission is comprised of the past five Presidents of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). Its purpose is to scan the environment for the Association and offer its views for AACP action and policy. The Commission also responds to specific AACP Presidential requests for discussion and analysis.

The American Pharmacists Association Foundation is sending someone to cover the event.  The APhA Foundation provides innovative programs and projects that contribute to new information and fresh ideas for pharmacists to use in retooling their practices to satisfy the contemporary health needs of their patients. (Award one of their incentive grants for practitioner innovation)

Representatives are here from educational institutions in diverse parts of the world where innovative, exciting use of the pharmacist's expertise is helping to shape a new order of health care delivery

The group includes at least one full careerist – someone who has completed a career of service with a development agency.  We expect a former elected President of the American Public Health Association to be in attendance. 

 We have members of an association that has sent out the message in a formal manner that:

- The community pharmacist is a recognized health professional contributing to health outcome
- The community pharmacy is a patient contact site, a health service outlet close to the population and is a fulcrum for improved health status of a community

It was the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria that took such a bold step in its 75 th Annual Conference in 2002.

This Dialogue audience includes senior executives of the American Society of Health-system Pharmacists (ASHP) the national professional association that represents pharmacists who practice in a variety of health care system settings.  ASHP, which has a long history of medication-error prevention efforts, believes that the mission of pharmacists is to help people make the best use of medicines . Assisting pharmacists in fulfilling this mission is ASHP's primary objective.

Members of on-the-ground organizations who are daily meeting a need and addressing challenges in health care around the world are a part of this dialogue.  Some of these organizations now use pharmacists professionals and would like to increase use of pharmacist expertise.

Area Public health and Pharmacy Students have been invited to join.

And so, we have come from far and near, gathered together to consider global health issues to which we can apply pharmacist expertise, to begin to outline or articulate strategies that each of us or our institutions can develop to respond to those stated needs and to reaffirm and amplify the potential of a career in pharmacy, indeed pharmacy practice, as a global experience.

I will have the pleasure of serving as your program moderator.  We expect to follow the program as printed.  But as in life, there may be some adjustments.  Several persons have indicated that they will be in attendance for a portion of the day.  One of those is Dr. Daulaire who will be leaving around 1:00 PM to return to Vermont . 

We are delighted to be the venue where global health meets pharmacy.  We fully expect the introduction – as they say in the movies – “to lead to something big”.

We look forward to full engagement throughout the day.  It is a great day to be a Pharmacist and to have this Dialogue!!!.