Weaving the health and pharmaceutical care agenda through the themes of the commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM), London 2018

Abstract

The biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this year is based around four key themes: prosperity, fairness, sustainability and security. This is an opportune time to consider the role of pharmacists in healthcare delivery, and particularly their contribution to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a member of the Commonwealth Health Professions Alliance (CHPA), the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) has been working to ensure that pharmacy-related aspects of health are represented in the advocacy papers submitted by Civil Society. Echoing the CHPA’s priorities around SDG 3 (health) and the attainment of sustainable universal health coverage (UHC), the CPA has been raising the profile of key priorities for our members, including: addressing the shortage of healthcare workers (with an emphasis on pharmacists); need for access to quality medicines and medicines information; tackling anti-microbial resistance and substandard/falsified medicines; and championing the role of digitalisation and partnerships. This editorial discusses how the work of the CPA links with the themes of CHOGM, the CPA’s input into this meeting and the direction of travel ‘Towards a Common Future’ for health and pharmacy in the Commonwealth.

Keywords:

• Commonwealth
• Health
• Heads of government
• Prosperity
• Sustainability
• Fairness
• Security
• Partnerships

Authors’ contributions

All authors participated in the conceptualisation, drafting and revision of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Authors’ information

Victoria Rutter, MPharm is Executive Director at The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association. Amy Chan, PhD is a Postdoctoral Researcher with the School of Pharmacy, UCL, and senior researcher for the health behaviour change consultancy, Spoonful of Sugar Ltd., a UCL Business Spinout company. She is also an advisor to the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association. Chloe Tuck, MBiochem is Research Development Lead at Spoonful of Sugar Ltd., a health behaviour change consultancy and UCL Business Spinout company. She is also an advisor to The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association. Lina Bader, PhD is Project Coordinator and Researcher at The International Pharmaceutical Federation. Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar, PhD is a Professor in Medicines and Healthcare at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Huddersfield. Ian Bates, MSc is Director of the Education Development Team at the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and a Professor of Pharmacy Education at UCL.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

All authors approved the manuscript.

Competing interests

VR, CT, LB and IB declare no conflicts of interest. AC has received consultancy fees from Janssen, and speaker fees from Novartis, for work unrelated to this submitted piece, and works as a freelance consultant for Spoonful of Sugar Ltd., a UCL Business spinout company. AC is also on the editorial team for the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice. LB is the member of the international Advisory Board of Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice. ZUDB is the Editor in Chief of Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.