World Pharmacists Day will be held on 25 September with the theme this year of Pharmacy: Always trusted for your health.
The theme this year is particularly apt given the role community pharmacies have played in meeting the health needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is celebrating World Pharmacists Day with inspiring messages from our leaders and a downloadable toolkit to help you mark the day in style.
The toolkit - which will be available from the Guild website on Friday 10 September - will include Zoom backgrounds, graphics and content to share on social media, posters, printable stickers and ideas for COVID-Safe ways to celebrate. Watch this space!
The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), which organises the event, said the theme reflected the fact that distrust of societal leaders had increased and distrust of information sources was at a record high.
This had been fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic and the “infodemic” around it.
FIP stressed that public trust in pharmacy was more important than ever given uncertainty over COVID and that vaccines hesitancy remained a major hurdle,
For many years, pharmacists have consistently been named among the top five most trusted professionals.
Announcing the theme FIP president Dominique Jordan said: “Pharmacists, educators and scientists — that’s our pharmacy profession.”
FIP said this year’s World Pharmacists Day campaign was an opportunity for pharmacy to show appreciation for the trust placed in the profession and increase awareness of this trust and pharmacists’ vital role in improving health.
“Evidence indicates a significant association between trust in healthcare professionals and health outcomes for patients,” Mr Jordan said.
“Pharmacy has built up a reserve of trust over many years of caring, positive relationships, expertise and excellent practice, all delivered with consistency.
“We can put this trust to good use in countering the anti-vaxxers as well as in continuing to improve the health of our communities in general.
“I invite all my colleagues around the world to join this year’s campaign and spread these important messages.”
More information and campaign materials are available on FIP’s World Pharmacists Day webpage.
