The pharmacist is key in assuring a safe and effective supply of medicines, as well as their responsible use. As a direct provider of services, from primary prevention of disease to therapeutic monitoring, pharmacists work to ensure that the patient's drug therapy is appropriate, the most effective available, the safest possible, and most convenient. This chapter contextualizes the importance of aligning pharmacists' education with societal needs, considering the path to Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goal 3, and makes the case for investing in the pharmacy workforce of tomorrow. It presents a vision for pharmacy and its place in the healthcare system, linking this vision with a needs-based pharmaceutical workforce transformation program of work.
TopIntroduction
We know that good health is essential to sustain economic and social development, as well as poverty reduction. Therefore, growing attention is being given to promoting access to needed services that maintain and improve health. At the same time, people need to be protected from being pushed into poverty because of the cost of health care (World Health Organization, 2013).
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. It includes the full range of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care (World Health Organisation, 2017).
The concept of UHC is firmly based on the 1948 WHO Constitution, which declares health a fundamental human right and commits to ensuring the highest attainable level of health for all (WHO, 1948). This concept, however, has moved higher in the agenda since 2012, when in December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed a resolution on Global Health and Foreign Policy urging countries to accelerate progress toward UHC as an essential priority for international development (United Nations, 2012).
More recently, in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all United Nations (UN) member States. It includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and health. All 17 Goals are interconnected, and the UN affirms that in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. Goal 3 is about ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being of all ages and is essential to sustainable development.
To make UHC and Goal 3 of the SDGs a reality, societies need individuals and communities who have access to high-quality health services so that they take care of their own health and the health of their families; policymakers committed to investing in health; but also skilled health workers providing quality, people-centered care.
There is no health without a workforce (Campbell et al., 2013). And we can add that there is no UHC without a competent workforce.
This chapter will start by contextualizing the importance of aligning pharmacists’ education with societal needs, considering the path to Universal Health Coverage, and make the case for investing in the pharmacy workforce of tomorrow. We will present a vision for pharmacy and its place in the healthcare system, linking this vision with a needs-based pharmaceutical workforce transformation program of work.
The specific objectives of this chapter are to:
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present a vision for pharmacy and its place in the healthcare system.
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describe how pharmacists contribute to Universal Health Coverage and particularly to SDG 3.
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list the competencies needed for pharmacists to fulfill this vision.
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showcase examples of how pharmacists are making use of these competencies.
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advocate for an international and national needs-based pharmaceutical workforce transformation strategy.