C2 - Act now! How pharmacists can help in the global refugee crisis

Conference Hall A - Section B & C

Organised by the YPG, in collaboration with FIP’s Community Pharmacy Section and the Military and Emergency Pharmacy Section

Chairs

Miranda Sertić (University of Zagreb, Croatia) and Miranda Law (Howard University, USA)

Introduction

In recent years, news about the growing burden of the refugee crisis have made many headlines. Violence and unrest have caused over 12 million people to be displaced from just five countries. With such migration comes associated health issues including the spread of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Appropriately managing the health care of millions of migrants requires a hands-on approach from every health profession, and pharmacists should be at the front lines. Participants at this session will learn and discuss how the profession can play a crucial role in improving health care for refugees, how young pharmacists can take a lead in helping, and how pharmacy educators can better prepare the future generation of pharmacists for emergency health situations. Pharmacists from all backgrounds can benefit from knowledge offered in this session.

This session advances FIP’s workforce development goals related to professional development and systems thinking. Preparing pharmacists to meet local needs in areas inundated with refugees heightens the impact that the profession can make in improving health care.

Programme

12:30 – 12:35 Introduction by the chairs

  1. 12:35 – 12:55 Importance of the role of community pharmacists in emergency health care
    Warren Meek (C7 Consulting Limited, Canada)
  2. 12:55 – 13:15 Be the change we want to see in the future ― The role of young pharmacists
    Nisreen Mourad (Lebanese International University, Lebanon)
  3. 13:15 – 13:35 Insights from a pharmacist from Médecins Sans Frontières
    Kristina Skender (Médecins Sans Frontières, Croatia)
  4. 13:35 – 13:50 Migrant simulations with roundtables
    Miranda Sertić (University of Zagreb, Croatia)

13:50 -13:55 Conclusion by the chairs

13:55 – 14:00 Room refresh

Learning Objectives

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Distinguish how community pharmacists can positively impact healthcare during the global refugee crisis
  2. Inform young pharmacists of actions they can take to make a difference in their local community
  3. Identify methods pharmacy educators can employ to prepare the future generation of pharmacists to respond to emergency healthcare situations
  4. Describe activities of pharmacists specialised to work in emergency situations.

Type of session: Knowledge-based