Traditionally, member associations convene together with the FAPA Bureau during the biennial
FAPA Congress hosted by the different FAPA member associations. Business meetings where member
associations meet during the FAPA Congress include the closed council meeting and the open-council
meeting. While convenient, the former set up does not provide enough opportunities for collaboration
and discussions during non-congress years and slows down the achievement of the FAPA target of
continuously supporting its member associations and following through with its initiatives. As a solution,
FAPA started to hold the Presidents’ meetings alongside other events related to its advocacies during
non-congress years.

In September 2015, the first presidents’ meeting was held at Crimson Hotel in Metro Manila, Philippines where the FAPA Bureau, which was then starting their term, shared with all the member association presidents the FAPA targets for the next four (4) years. It was attended by fourteen (14) of the eighteen (18) member associations at the time. To maximize the visit, the meeting was held in conjunction with the FAPA Leaders’ Summit on the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance.

The second presidents’ meeting was held on May 13, 2017 at Hotel Istana in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia alongside the forum on Separation of Dispensing and Prescribing Practices hosted by the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS). Fourteen (14) member associations of FAPA were represented in the meeting where updates are being reported to the different member associations. The meetings held during non-congress years has helped sustain engagement with the different member associations, and allowed for a speedy development in the specific programs of FAPA on Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) and those that aim to address issues such as Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), Medication Safety through Separation of Dispensing and Prescribing (SDP), and the Roles of Pharmacists in Disaster Management.

Author: Joyce Alvarez