Welcome to the World Pharmacy Council, established in 2017 by community pharmacy organisations in seven countries (Pharmintercom) that have met annually since 1987 to share information and discuss the role, opportunities and issues affecting community pharmacy.  The World Pharmacy Council is an Associate Expert Group member of Business at OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

Community pharmacies play a great but frequently unrecognised and unquantified role in healthcare systems. They provide care and advice for a range of health issues.  From wound care and minor sprains, to pain and infections, pharmacies offer care and advice from infancy throughout life.  A core role for pharmacies is to supply prescribed medications with the right information and guidance to help ensure proper use and efficacy.   For many people with health problems, their relationship with a community pharmacy team is an important part of their support network.

These pharmacy core services are vital components of health systems, contributing to managing demand for physician or hospital resources. They are supplemented in some countries by greater use of the clinical skills of community pharmacists, who can adjust or even initiate prescribed medication therapy, sometimes as part of medicines management services.

The growth of online retailing is challenging traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ trading models including community pharmacies. In most countries fees paid for dispensing provide the funding to support provision of advice and support that is not directly remunerated.

Health costs are rising and increasingly governments focus on use of new technologies to change traditional models of care. Community pharmacy must be part of the debates, in individual countries and internationally, to develop recognition of its place in the provision of health care today, and to contribute to dialogue about the future: how pharmacies can be an integral part of innovative systems.

The mission of the World Pharmacy Council is to build international recognition of community pharmacy, its role, policies and value, and to influence, promote and secure acceptance of community pharmacy as an important and integral part of health systems.

By 2025 the World Pharmacy Council is established and acknowledged as an informed and respected data driven expert on the actual and potential role of community pharmacy in patient care and public health, advocating for using the full scope of practice of community pharmacists as part of integrated care of patients with acute or chronic conditions, and as providers of public health services, in line with the recommendations of organizations such as the OECD.

• Community Pharmacy intervention and care of people with Long Term Conditions as providing safe, comprehensive, accessible and high quality services as part of an integrated primary care 'web of care'.
• Community Pharmacy support for wellness/prevention of disease to reduce cost burden on health systems.
• Community Pharmacy as a platform for patient outcomes data capture and analysis and a gatekeeper of health care data.
• Community Pharmacy as the principal provider of easily accessible advice and treatment of common illnesses.

• All members of the public should have easy access to a community pharmacy. The availability of face-to-face consultation with an expert in the use of medicines is a valued part of healthcare systems.

• All patients should be able to receive medicines they need from community pharmacies. Pharmacies will make adjustments to address any disabilities or barriers to the service.

• Pharmacies provide safe storage of medicines and manage supplies to ensure speedy and reliable supply of medicines, with professional oversight to minimise risks of inappropriate medication or dose.

• Supply of medicines through community pharmacies is an important measure to prevent the distribution and use of medicines for recreational or unsafe use, and the Council opposes cross-border distance selling of medicines.

• Pharmacists' expertise in the use and effects of medicines minimises adverse events and should be used to proactively support patients in getting the best outcomes from medicines prescribed for or used by them.

• The important role of the community pharmacist and support staff in education of their patients and customers should be recognised and valued. This includes the care of self-limiting conditions, management of symptoms and referral to appropriate sources of care.

• Community pharmacists should be used to provide guidance, information and support to help people avoid lifestyle-related diseases and maintain good health; they can provide immunisations and vaccinations to contribute to minimising the incidence of diseases.

• Community pharmacy services contribute to minimising harm associated with illicit drug use, and pharmacies will collaborate with health services to reduce acquisition of non-prescribed medicines for harmful recreactional use.

• Community pharmacies handle all patient data securely and all pharmacy staff are trained to ensure that the confidentiality of all information about patients is maintained.

• Community pharmacies commity to ensuring that pharmacists and support staff undertake continuing professional development and training relevant to their practice, to ensure they maintain their competence and ability to provide the best possible care to their population.

• Community pharmacies can help manage the cost of providing care, by identifying individual opportunities to make savings in medication without compromising quality, and by competent and convenient provision of services that would otherwise be provided at a higher cost.

The Danish Pharmacies Association is pharmacy's employer and trade association in Denmark.

The Israel Pharmacists Association unites private pharmacy owners all over Israel and has about 500 members located all over the country.

The General Council of Spanish Pharmacists represents the pharmacy professional at the national and international level.

The National Community Pharmacists Association represents pharmacist owners, managers, and employees of more than 22,000 indepdendent community pharmacies across the United States.

PLEASE NOTE BEFORE COMPLETING THIS FORM:

If you are an individual, please note that membership of the World Pharmacy Council is not available to individuals. The Council's full members are community pharmacy representative organisations, and application for affiliate membership is open only to companies and other organisations that have an interest in the field of community pharmacy.