Asia Pacific National Medicines Policy Meeting

-Important For All Pharmacy Associations to Be Represented

WPPF President John Ware and members of the Executive Committee urge the leadership of all the pharmacy organisations in the Western Pacific Region to attend this meeting, to be held in Sydney, Australia.

It is being organised by the Western Pacific and South East Asian regional offices of WHO, with the support of the government of Australia and administered by Australia’s National Prescribing Service. John Ware, President of the Forum, in urging the pharmaceutical associations to be represented said that it created an opportunity for both the associations and governments to enter discussions at at international level. He went on to say that the outcomes of this Asia Pacific National Medicines Policies conference would affect all policies relating to medicines for the next 15-20 years.

It is vital that both the profession is represented from each of the countries in the region as well as government. It is a unique opportunity, rarely held in the region, for the pharmacy profession to contribute in the medicine related healthcare arena.

The Asia Pacific Conference on National Medicines Policies (APCNMP) will take place in Sydney, Australia from 26 to 29 May 2012. This conference is being held in collaboration with NPS: Better choices, Better health (Australia’s independent quality use of medicines implementation body), the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, the University of Newcastle and the World Health Organization.

The conference will provide the opportunity for countries in the Asia Pacific region to come together and share their knowledge, skills and experiences as they have moved to implement the various elements of their National Medicines Policies. Plenary sessions will provide a platform for interactive workshops. The workshops will be supported by information on the posters prepared by conference participants. The workshops will include topics such as universal access to medicines, rational use of medicines, generic medicines policies, and ethical promotion of medicines.

Participants wishing to attend the conference should be actively involved in national medicines policies. This will include policy makers, those working in Government, health professionals, researchers and academics, representatives of consumers/civil society, non-government organisations (NGOs), the pharmaceutical industry and those involved in quality use of medicines activities.The target audiences for this conference are those involved in medicines policy activities in the Asia Pacific Region.

Registration will be limited to 300 participants and preference will be given to those who have submitted an abstract. The Organising Committee reserves the right to manage the registration process to ensure adequate country representation from the region.

The conference is scheduled to immediately follow the National Medicines Symposium (NMS), which will be held at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on 24 and 25 May. NMS provides the opportunity to network, debate and share expertise at the leading symposium on quality use of medicines in Australia.

Further details about the Asia Pacific Conference on National Medicines Policies will be available on this website as the program develops.http://www.apcnmp2012.com.au/