The CPA Newsletter – Q1
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Welcome to the roundup of our latest news. We hope you enjoy hearing about our latest work and activities.
Although ever hopeful that we are emerging from a global pandemic, we are still facing the challenges of COVID19 and we recognise the huge contribution our pharmacists and their colleagues continue to make to the health and wellbeing of the citizens of the Commonwealth during difficult circumstances.
Whether that be providing continuation of services though lockdowns and closure/overwhelm to the health systems, tackling misinformation or administering vaccines – our key role in the health system has never been so critical.
Despite these challenges, the CPA has continued to have an active portfolio of projects and activities and grown our reach and impact thanks to the dedication of colleagues from around the Commonwealth.
We look forward to a busy and productive year ahead as we continue to grow our team and workstreams for the benefits of the communities we serve.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2022.
Victoria Rutter,
Executive Director, CPA
Our partnership with Novartis is another step towards progressing our shared common goal of improving access to healthcare and ensuring the quality of medicines and vaccines for patients across the globe.
The collaboration will support several elements of the CPA’s work including
continuing to develop high quality education and training resources via the
CPA’s online continuing professional development (CPD) platform.
Through the platform, pharmacists are supported to develop their knowledge
and skills in priority areas, enhancing their practice and the care they can
provide for their communities.
The Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS) is a health partnership programme funded by the UK aid Fleming Fund to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) globally.
CwPAMS is managed by the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) and the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET), an international NGO with expertise in delivering global health partnerships.
In 2021, after the success of the first round of the program, a second round of partnerships have been established over eight African countries: Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Malawi and Kenya.
“The CwPAMS partnerships have demonstrated a recognition of the importance of Antimicrobial Stewardship and an extensive commitment from healthcare workers to collaboratively tackle antimicrobial resistance and develop effective Antimicrobial Stewardship interventions,” says Diane Ashiru-Oredope, the CPA Global AMR Lead.
The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association has launched the new ‘SPARC’ programme, funded by UK aid through the Department of Health and Social Care’s Fleming Fund, aiming to improve surveillance and prescribing of antimicrobial medicines in low and middle-income countries within the Commonwealth and beyond.
Led by the CPA, SPARC builds on the strength of the ongoing Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS) Programme, extending the work around an antimicrobial prescribing smartphone app and surveillance of antimicrobial use through a Global Point Prevalence Survey (GPPS).
“We’re delighted that the CPA is starting this grant looking to strengthen the approach to improved use of antimicrobial drugs. Assessing and moderating the use of antimicrobial drugs in clinical practice is a key piece of the puzzle in tackling AMR, and this grant will help to address it,” says Toby Leslie, the Global Technical Lead, The Fleming Fund Management Agent (Mott MacDonald).
The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) in partnership with the Commonwealth Health Professions and Partners Alliance (CHPA) organised 2021’s Civil Society Policy Forum on “Equitable and appropriate access to quality medicines and vaccines in the Commonwealth: innovative approaches and lessons learned from COVID-19”.
As part of the proceedings, the CPA led an expert consultation with stakeholders across the Commonwealth to inform the policy discussions in the Forum.
The emerging themes and recommendations were captured in the Policy Brief, detailing the 5 recommendations for governments to prioritise for equitable access to quality medicines and vaccines, and medical supplies.
These recommendations were presented at the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting on 20 May 2021 and acknowledged in the Ministerial Outcome Statement.
Over the last year, the CPA Continuing Professional Development (CPD) platform has gone from strength to strength: a mobile first platform, with bitesize modules that facilitates busy pharmacists to participate in CPD and improve the health of the community they serve.
The platform launched with its first programme in Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS). The AMS programme had been designed as several courses aimed at pharmacists within different settings, the programme recently had extra resources added to supplement the courses.
More programmes have been planned for 2022, and we will share the updates via our newsletter in the coming months. During 2021 the CPD platform reach has expanded to 14 countries with 6500 members and this number is set to increase for 2022.
Be part of the CPA CPD global pharmacy learning network. Find out more by clicking the button below.
The second cohort of the CPhOGH Fellowship programme was launched in December 2021 with 13 fellows.
As part of the induction stage, the fellows were welcomed to the fellowship programme and taken through a two-day Leadership Development Course that was co-organized by the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association and the Health Education England.
In addition, the fellows were introduced to and briefed about the 6-month long Global Pharmacy Course that will strengthen their knowledge and understanding of global health and awareness of issues surrounding global access to medicines and the role of pharmacy with an emphasis on lowerincome settings.
About the CPA
The CPA works to support pharmacists in strengthening healthcare systems; through the safe and effective use of medicines, improving access and quality of medicines and vaccines, and the prevention of disease and promoting healthy lifestyles. Through their government channels, they are vocal advocates for improved access and quality of medicines and vaccines; embedding pharmacists at all levels of medicines management to achieve this goal.