“We must use the immense network of pharmacy capilla- and the proximity of citizens to promote the image of the community pharmacist as a key agent of health in promoting behavior and preventing diseases.” These are the words of the Minister of the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Laura Vilagrà , at the inauguration yesterday of Infarma Barcelona 2023. The minister thanked the pharmacist for the main role in the pandemic and the good result obtained from the coordinated work with the health system. He declared the same goal of continuing to work on “the digitization of the sector, which will make it possible to make test data immediately in the pharmacy”.
He said the same lines Jordi Casaspresident of Col legi de Pharmacèutics Barcelona (COFB) and president of Infarma Barcelona 2023, who pointed out the need to “consolidate the pharmacy office as a point of service and information for citizens for future health challenges”. The president of COFB also shows the need to adapt “pharmaceutical services to an increasingly digitized model that allows them to be linked to a greater monitoring of the health of users” and noting that this edition of Infarma stands out “digitalization, sustainability”. participation and solidarity.
Manuel Martinez del Peralthe president of the official college of Pharmacists of Madrid (COFM) and the president of Infarma Barcelona 2023, all those around received the event and highlighted that during these days of meetings “pharmacologists will show that we are part of the solution. many challenges of today’s health and we can contribute to alleviate the saturation of the health system.
“We must integrate the pharmacist in the health system as a function that society demands from us to evaluate and respond to the demands of today’s health,” he said. Jesus AguilarThe President of the General Council of Official Colleges of Pharmacists (CGCOF), who invited to celebrate the progress made, but warned that “we still have challenges ahead to which we need to introduce reforms to help support the resources of pharmacists.”
As he William Bagaria, director of the Infarma Barcelona Congress, “this conference is highly anticipated after four years of the last face of the Barcelona edition. We have expanded the exhibition area by 10% and there will be around 80 discussion panels that will discuss issues such as the problem of the use of antibiotics, shortages or single health policies in public health.”
The health of the planet to ensure the health of the future
Sustainability is one of the central themes of Infarma Barcelona 2023, which is the first meeting to be neutral in CO2 emissions and also marked the inaugural conference under the title “Planetary Health: when human health depends on health”. planet”, by Dr. Joseph Maria Antósenior researcher at ISGlobal and professor emeritus of medicine at Pompeu Fabra University.
The speaker warned that “health is the future of the health of the planet”, that is, it is not possible to have good health without taking care of the health of the planet. “At the expense of nature’s resources we are draining the health of future generations,” Dr. Antó explained, who showed that “we must not cross the limits. If the temperature of the planet increases more than 1.5°, we enter a zone of changes difficult to predict and irreversible”.
How planetary health and the challenge of sustainability are related from various areas of the pharmaceutical chain, was the subject of the subsequent panel discussion, in which Guillermo Bagaria confirmed the importance of the impact that small actions can bring back to the footprint of the environmental impact of the pharmaceutical action with the existence of consolidated initiatives such as Punto Sigre or electronic prescription.
The importance of table discussion
“From pharmaceutical distribution we cover 565,000 km every day to provide patient access to medicines in safe and effective conditions, so the sustainability of our activity is a question that worries us,” he said. Matilda Sanchezthe president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Distributors (FEDIFAR), which shows that he is promoting some actions to help reduce the impact on the environment such as the use of hybrid vehicles, the reduction of water consumption, improvement and promoting reforestation.
“70% of the pharmaceutical industry’s energy consumption comes from renewable energy sources and 80% of large laboratories are already committed to the goal of reaching 0 emissions by 2050,” he pointed out. John Yermo the general director of Farmaindustria, who also introduced the theme of the rational use of drugs to mitigate effects such as microbial resistance. “Industry must be at the forefront of finding solutions to infectious diseases, so that they can have better treatment and possible drug resistance, in addition to fighting new diseases that arise from climate change due to animal transmission. to men,” explained John Yerm.
Mare Fábregasthe president of the Spanish Society of Generic Medicines (AESEG), emphasized the need for production systems that respect the environment. “Currently, 7 out of 10 medicines are made in plants in this country and have been introduced in an environmentally friendly production system. For the industry as a whole, it is a duty to provide better access to the treatments of citizens, more suitable and equally effective medicines”, explained Mar Fábregas, who also increases the measures which encourage recycling.
