International Day of Friendship 2026: The crucial role of our diverse network in CPA's history
Reflecting on 60 years since the first Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Conference
On 30th July each year, we join our colleagues at the United Nations in observing the International Day of Friendship, recognising how friendly relationships among diverse countries, cultures, and peoples can inspire peace and growth worldwide.
These values are central to the work of the Commonwealth, with its Charter outlining its commitment to international peace and security and sustainable growth and development as a means of achieving progress and prosperity.
This International Day of Friendship, we’re looking back at how the inaugural Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Conference brought together pharmacists from all over the world and led to the birth of our organisation today.
The building blocks of the first Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Conference were laid some 60 years ago with the establishment of the Commonwealth Foundation. First conceived by Rt Hon Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the British Prime Minister, at the 1964 Conference of Commonwealth Prime Ministers, the Foundation sought to operate in tandem with the Commonwealth Secretariat to support the idea of the Commonwealth being as much an association of peoples as of governments.
One of the Foundation’s earliest initiatives was to establish professional associations, both nationally and internationally, to promote knowledge sharing and strengthen professional networks – especially between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although a couple of professional associations had been founded prior to the Foundation, over 30 other professional and sector-specific bodies were ultimately set up, and the vast majority remain Accredited Organisations of the Commonwealth today.
On June 16th, 1969, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (now known as the Royal College of Pharmacy) convened the first-ever Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Conference, with representatives from all but one of the 29 member states of the Commonwealth of Nations at the time. The decision was taken at the Conference to establish a unified network for the pharmacy profession across the Commonwealth: the organisation we now call the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA).
In bringing together pharmacy professions from each of the world’s inhabited continents, the Conference and subsequently established association provided a vital opportunity for cross-border learning. The challenges faced by the different member countries were diverse – particularly those faced by countries which had recently achieved their independence – but the existence of this interconnected global network served to benefit all CPA members.
Recognising a shortfall in up-to-date medicines information in some of the newly-established national pharmacy associations, the PharmAid scheme was promptly instigated to supply medical resource texts such as the British National Formulary to LMICs. To date, PharmAid has supplied over 200,000 texts, ensuring that pharmacists in some of the world’s most resource-poor settings can treat their patients safely and accurately.
The relationships between CPA’s member organisations have long been reciprocal. All CPA members benefit from the free transfer of knowledge the Association facilitates; the increasing standardisation of pharmacy educational standards, strengthened supply chain security, and collective advocacy have improved health outcomes globally. CPA’s diversity among its members also enables innovations across different health systems to be shared more widely. The bidirectional learning model utilised in our Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship programme demonstrated the crucial positive influence that learnings from LMICs can have on the UK National Health Service and other HICs.
Each year, we commemorate CPA’s foundation at the inaugural Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Conference by celebrating Commonwealth Pharmacists Day. Representatives from CPA member organisations on every inhabited continent of the globe have continued to meet at least annually since that first conference in 1969, feeding directly into our work to build capability in the global pharmacy workforce, turn policy into practice, and advocate and act on global health issues.
Now representing over one million pharmacists worldwide, our members’ diverse lived experiences contribute invaluably to our vision of advancing equitable access to safe and effective medicines and pharmacy services for a healthier world.
CPA’s global impact is a testament to the power of friendly relationships among diverse countries, cultures, and peoples in inspiring peace and growth worldwide.