Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The vast improvements in technology over the past 50 years have changed the dynamics of how we
communicate and conduct business – indeed the world has become a much smaller when we can
send friends instant messages from across the globe! These advances in the ways that we
communicate serve many purposes and for IPSF, they do the following:
IPSF sees each Contact Person as a link to every student in every country, and as such, you must
be motivated to share the IPSF spirit with your fellow CP colleagues and to spread this spirit to your
students back home. As Contact Persons, you are required to pass on all of the information sent to
you from the IPSF Executive Committee to the students in your countries. You are an ambassador
for your country, and your students and recently graduated pharmacists are relying on you to
pass along the latest news, campaigns, promotional materials and information in order to reap the
full benefits from IPSF membership. You will never be alone in these tasks – the IPSF Executive
committee is always here to provide you with support, advice, and encouragement.
This handbook was specifically prepared to equip you with the tools and necessary guidelines to
understand IPSF and your position. After reading this handbook, you will be ready to prepare a plan
on how you will fulfill your duties. Always remember, that you are the gateway of communication
between IPSF and your member association. We are counting on you to keep the IPSF spirit alive
and active at the local level!
Enjoy your time as an IPSF Contact Person – it will be one of the busiest, yet most memorable years
of your entire pharmacy school career!
Yours in IPSF,
The Chairperson of Internal Relations
Email: internal@ipsf.org
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What is IPSF?
3. To collect opinions and information on the subject of pharmaceutical education and suggest
improvements where necessary with the aim of attaining equivalence in standards of pharmaceutical
education.
4. To collaborate and publish joint statements with other professional pharmaceutical bodies and
international student organizations on an educational, scientific, and cultural plane.
IPSF also aims to maintain and further develop it’s Official Relations status and to collaborate on
joint initiatives with the World Health Organization (WHO), to maintain and further develop it’s
Operational Relations status and to collaborate on appropriate initiatives with the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and to maintain and further develop it’s
Roster Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
(UN ECOSOC)
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WHAT IS A CONTACT PERSON?
Since IPSF is a federation of organizations, the Contact Persons (CPs) are the key to successful
communication between IPSF and its member organizations.
The work of the CP consists of introducing IPSF to pharmacy students in your organization (and
possibly country), informing them about IPSF projects, campaigns, programs and calls and keeping
a close relationship with the executive board of your organization to inform them about congress
preparations and other important dates, events and opportunities within the Federation.
The other part of the job is to inform IPSF about how you implement campaigns and projects in your
country, to be in regular contact with the Chairperson of Internal Relations, and represent your
member organization in IPSF.
IPSF recommends that member organizations separate the positions of the Contact Person and
Student Exchange Officer in order to allow the individuals holding these positions enough time to
fulfill their very different responsibilities. The CP should not have any other significant responsibilities
in his/her organization. Your duties as a CP will be time consuming and you may find yourself quickly
overwhelmed if you must divide your time between two executive positions. That said, the CP should
still be a member of the executive board of your organization because you must have close contact
with other board members in order to inform, consult with, and discuss any pending matters.
A CP can appoint assistants if necessary - especially in big organizations or countries, this might
make information dissemination more effective.
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DUTIES OF A CONTACT PERSON?
Congratulations on being the new CP of your organization! Please complete the following tasks:
•When the Chairperson of Internal Relations (internal@ipsf.org) sends you the IPSF Contact
Person Update Form, you must fill this out and send it back as soon as possible in order to get added
onto the CP e-group and begin receiving important IPSF information and announcements.
•Set up a meeting with the previous CP and ask them for background information on what
has been done over the past years in your organization, including any and all communication with
IPSF and other relevant issues. A good hand-over from the outgoing CP to you is necessary to help
you to fulfill your duties and begin working effectively from the beginning.
•Read this booklet carefully. If you have any questions, please contact internal@ipsf.org.
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After getting familiar with your new position, your tasks will be the following throughout the year:
•To keep within the framework of IPSF, the decisions of the IPSF General Assembly and Executive
Committee. Minutes of the General Assembly are sent to IPSF CPs by 31st December by the
Secretary General.
•To carefully study the Constitution, Domestic Rules and Standing Orders of the Federation. You can
ask for them from the IPSF Secretary General by sending an email to secgen@ipsf.org.
•To be responsible for the payment of membership fees in collaboration with your organisation’s
treasurer. Membership and Student Exchange fee invoices are sent electronically in October-
November each year. The fee is due before the first of January of each year and should be forwarded
immediately on receipt of the IPSF Treasurer’s notification. If the fee is not paid before this date,
your organisation shall be deemed to be in debt and may lose some or all of its rights within the
Federation. If your organisation is in debt for two years or more, you will eventually lose your
membership. For any inquires regarding financial issues please, send an email to treasurer@ipsf.org.
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•To inform members of your organisation about the Development Fund and possibilities to apply for
grants.
•To make sure that up to three official delegates are appointed to the annual IPSF General Assembly,
the official decision making body of IPSF that meets during the annual IPSF World Congress. Official
delegates should be pharmacy students or have graduated from their first degree in pharmacy less
than four years ago. IPSF recommends that the CP and Student Exchange Officer are given priority
when appointing official delegates.
•To maintain regular communication with the Chairperson of Internal Relations and your fellow CPs
via the CP e-group. The e-group is one of the most effective methods to share ideas and promotion
plans for the year – so stay active with and always be positive in your e-group postings. Also be
prepared to offer your opinions and answer questions posed by the Chairperson of Internal Relations,
other Executive members, or other CPs.
•To pass on information about IPSF to members of your organisation. When you receive
announcements over the CP e-group, for example, it is necessary for you to forward on this
information to the students belonging to your organisation. Additionally, you can inform your students
about IPSF activities by:
-Requesting IPSF promotional materials from the IPSF Executive Committee and sending
these materials (i.e. posters, leaflets, etc.) to schools of pharmacy in your organization
-Creating mailing lists to make sending materials easier
-Giving presentations about IPSF at school meetings or during other relevant events, such
as national events or symposia
•To fill out regular IPSF Activity Report Forms about the activities of your member organisation and
send these to internal@ipsf.org and other Executive members as applicable. For example, an activity
report about a Patient Counseling Event should be sent to both the Chairperson of Internal Relations
and to the Chairperson of Professional Development.
•These reports need not be very lengthy, but should include responses to all questions and at least
one photo of the event if possible.
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•Ideally, each IPSF CP should fill out several short activity reports
for all of the IPSF activities organised.
•To assemble the final year report of your association’s activities and send it to ipsf@ipsf.org in June-
July, as according to the deadline announced by the Secretary General. The report will be included
in the IPSF World Congress folder and will be distributed to all Congress participants. This is your
time to spotlight the activities of your associations, so be sure to make it good!
*Please note that this final year report is different from the activity reports described in the previous
point. The activity reports are submitted throughout the year, describe one particular event per report,
and are usually short. Your final year report is expected to be longer, to provide a summary of all of
your organisation’s events, and to be comprehensive.
•Needless to say, if you have been filling out the activity reports throughout the year already, this
final year report task can be as simple as compiling all of these individual reports into the annual
report. You will be informed more about the details (formatting of the report and the deadlines) of
this report through the CP e-group.
•To write articles for the IPSF News Bulletin and/or IPSF electronic newsletters and recruit student
members of your organization to subscribe to them.
•To be responsible for distribution of the IPSF News Bulletin and Phuture supplements to students,
libraries, and appropriate organisations in your country.
•To inform the Chairperson of Internal Relations of any events to be held by your organisation that
may require IPSF representatives, use of the IPSF promotional power point presentation, or other
IPSF promotional materials. The Chairperson of Internal Relations will send an email over the CP e-
group requesting tentative schedules of events for the upcoming year. When this request gets made,
please be sure to email your list to internal@ipsf.org promptly.
•Be sure that you receive IPSF information regularly. This should include:
-One edition of the News Bulletin per year, usually between April and July
-IPSF Annual Report before or at the World Congress
-Phuture, the IPSF Scientific Supplement
-A fortnightly electronic newsletter sent via the CP e-group
-All materials for the IPSF General Assembly (two months before the congress)
-Minutes from the previous General Assembly, before 31st December
If you do not receive these materials, please inform the IPSF Executive at ipsf@ipsf.org.
The following pages of the handbook are
dedicated to giving you a better understanding of
IPSF and its activities. On the very last page, you
will find a copy of the IPSF Activity Report Form
for your reference.
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IPSF
HISTORY
1994 The IPSF congress in Honduras approved 1989 First Patient Counseling Event was held
and officially adopts Neema (a Village Concept Project) during IPSF congress
as an IPSF project
1997 The first FIP/IPSF Students' Day was held at
1998 The first Phuture supplement was published FIP Congress
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IPSF STRUCTURE
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Executive Committee (co-opted officers with no voting right)
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MEMBERSHIP IN IPSF
Full Membership
Full Membership (FM) is granted to national associations that represent the majority of pharmacy
students in their nation. A nation is defined as being a community of people with a government that
is recognized by the United Nations. Full Members are entitled to all privileges of membership in
IPSF and have the right to put motions forward and vote at the General Assembly of IPSF.
Membership in Association
Membership in Association (MiA) is granted to associations that represent pharmacy students. These
associations can be faculty based, regional, or national. Members in Association are entitled to all
privileges of membership in IPSF but cannot vote at the General Assembly.
Individual Membership
Pharmacy students and graduates of up to four years after their first degree in pharmacy can apply
to be an Individual Member (IM) of IPSF. Privileges of membership include participation in IPSF
Congress, General Assemblies, receiving IPSF publications, right to apply for Development Fund
Grants, participation in Student Exchange Program (SEP) and IPSF-WHO Internships. IPSF has
approximately 20 Individual Members from 18 countries all together, and from 10 countries that do
not have IPSF member organization (Full Member or Member in Association).
To express your interest in Individual Membership, please email external@ipsf.org
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IPSF ACTIVITIES
In this part you will find a lot of useful information on IPSF projects, campaigns and programs. Please
forward all relevant information to the executive committee of your organization and pharmacy
students in your country.
We in IPSF also hope that your organization will find campaigns and projects that can be
implemented in your country.
HUMANITARIAN CAMPAIGN
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HIV/AIDS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
TUBERCULOSIS CAMPAIGN
The Healthy Living and Diabetes Campaign, was launched in 2005. It aims to raise awareness of a
healthy lifestyle in the prevention and care of diabetes and to encourage proactive rather than
reactive health promotion. The objectives also include training and motivating pharmacy students to
move towards multidisciplinary collaboration in planning events and campaigns while bringing
awareness to a globally significant issue.
World Diabetes Day is marked on 14 November each year, with IPSF members paying particular
attention to the specific theme of each year’s campaign – focusing on a specific health-related aspect
of diabetes.
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WORLD HEALTH DAY
The basic materials are available in English, French and Spanish. For more information please
contact at counterfeit@ipsf.org
IPSF member organizations have already organized a few humanitarian activities, such as Vampire
Cup (Blood Donation Day), Collecting of toys and books for children, Clothes’ Collecting, Christmas
Bazaar etc. By supporting local activities IPSF would like to encourage all member countries to
continue with their work.
By exchanging ideas, creating materials for humanitarian activities, and helping each other, we can
manage to organize at least one local humanitarian activity per year in every member country. This
is the goal we would like to achieve this year. By organizing a Humanitarian Campaign, member
countries will become involved in IPSF Public Health Reward System.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION
IPSF has a number of opportunities for students to improve their patient counseling and clinical skills
and become well-rounded pharmacy professionals. Students may go on exchanges to foreign
countries via the Student Exchange Program or attend regional or international events with allied
health professionals. They may also mobilise their colleagues to participate in one of IPSF Moving
On Research Projects or participate in the training program.
IPSF recognizes that education plays an extremely important role in preparing pharmacy students
for practice and other professional activities. Hence IPSF is committed to ensuring quality pharmacy
education. The Federation strives to provide pharmacy students around the globe with avenues to
broaden their knowledge base. In addition, professional development initiatives in IPSF advocate
and promote the role of the pharmacist as an integral member of the health professional team.
Activities aim to encourage the development of core skills required by pharmacists to optimize health
outcomes.
Moving On RESEARCH
LEADERS IN TRAINING
Training is a leadership and capacity-building program which provides students the avenue to acquire
and develop essential knowledge and skills that may not be explicitly taught in pharmacy curricula.
It is conducted in an interactive, cascade manner. Professional trainers train IPSF leaders in a variety
of topics such as leadership styles, presentation skills, group dynamics, project development and
more in small group workshops.
These trained leaders then organize training sessions for IPSF members at international, regional
and local levels. For more information contact Training Coordinator at training@ipsf.org
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PHARMACY PROFESSION AWARENESS CAMPAIGN (PPAC)
IPSF believes that communication skills and clinical knowledge should be core components of
pharmacy curricula worldwide to improve medication management for patients. Patient Counseling
Events and Clinical Skills Events are organised on international and local levels to promote the role
of a pharmacist in patient care.
Patient Counseling Events demonstrate and promote the importance of communication skills in drug
therapy and disease management. Clinical Skills Events are designed to test and develop
pharmaceutical knowledge as well as problem solving, verbal and written communication, and clinical
skills. Such events are conducted in fun and competitive environments.
IPSF teamed up with the FIP Pharmacy Information Section to jointly produce a booklet on patient
counseling - Counseling, Concordance, and Communication: Innovative Education for Pharmacists.
It provides an overview of patient counseling, demonstrates how patient counseling works and
provides insight into the mechanisms of hosting your own event. The booklet is available
electronically on www.ipsf.org
If you want to know more about Patient Counseling or Clinical Skills Event please contact
Chairperson of Professional Development (pd@ipsf.org)
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STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM
The IPSF Student Exchange Program (SEP) allows pharmacy students to experience pharmacy
practice in another country. Almost 600 pharmacy students have the opportunity every year to take
part in this mobility program. Participants have the opportunity to experience firsthand the way
pharmacy works in another country, meet with pharmacy students from different places and exchange
ideas and information.
Student exchanges run throughout the year, but most exchanges take place between May and
September. The length of exchanges can be one to three months and students may select from host
sites in community, hospital, industrial and university based pharmacy settings. Information about
countries participating in the Student Exchange Program is available at the website www.ipsf.org. A
new list of countries with a lot of valuable information is available at http://sep.ipsf.org
Applications are filled in and then viewed by Student Exchange Officers online in the Student
Exchange Database. Room is often provided by the host, while board, travel expenses and insurance
are usually the responsibility of the student.
The task of the Contact Person in regards to the Student Exchange Program is to liaise fully with the
Student Exchange Officer of his/her association to provide all applicants with relevant information
on IPSF and its projects, in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas with other students when
successful applicants go on exchange.
If you are interested in starting SEP in your organization, please contact the
Chairperson of Student Exchange at sep@ipsf.org
Important: It is of utmost importance that the student has both health and liability insurance
before an exchange takes place, as IPSF merely facilitates, and does not coordinate Student
Exchanges, and is not responsible for any circumstances resulting in misfortune. It must be
stressed that IPSF can give no guarantee that a host will be found for each applicant. This
depends entirely on the student organization in the host country.
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IPSF AT FIP CONGRESS
The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and IPSF collaborate on a
Students’ Day program held each year at the annual FIP congress. The program
is based on a particular theme that is deemed timely and of interest to pharmacy
students. It is an opportunity for pharmacy students and young pharmacists to
meet with colleagues from other countries and to interact with pharmacy
practitioners.
In addition, IPSF also holds joint sessions with FIP sections such as Pharmacy Information Section,
Academic Pharmacy Section, Hospital Pharmacy Section and Young Pharmacists’ Group. FIP
congresses were organized in Istanbul, Turkey, September 2009 and in Lisbon, Portugal, September
2010. The next, 71st FIP Congresswill be held in Hyderabad, India, September 2011. To find more
about FIP Congresses visit http://www.fip.org/www/?page=congresses
INTERNSHIPS
IPSF offers internship places at the Stop TB Secretariat and at many World Health
Organization (WHO) Departments at the WHO Headquarters in Geneva,
Switzerland. Through these, IPSF members are given the opportunity to
broaden their experiences and to gain an invaluable insight into the public
health sector.
Follow the CP e-group announcements and discussions to find out more about
these opportunities.
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IPSF PUBLICATIONS
The main publication of the Federation is the IPSF News Bulletin, which is circulated annually.
Students and recent graduates from member and non-member organizations write articles that are
published in the News Bulletin. Members thus have an opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas
and experiences with the rest of the pharmacy world.
The IPSF News Bulletin is a medium for information about current student events and activities and
expresses the members’ opinions on current topics of pharmaceutical interest. It has a global
circulation of approximately 2000 copies.
A supplement on a specific scientific topic, Phuture, is published each year. It includes opinions from
different health professionals and students around the world. IPSF also contributes with articles to
the International Pharmacy Journal (IPJ), published by the International Pharmaceutical Federation
(FIP), and to organizations and journals interested in the future of pharmacy.
IPSF Newsletters are another IPSF publication that is sent by e-mail approximately every two weeks
to IPSF members. They contain activity reports from the executive, promotion of members’ activities,
reports from allied organizations, etc.
It is the task of the CP to forward it to the other pharmacy students in their country. A PDF version of
the newsletter is also available online on the IPSF website.
The IPSF Contact Person plays an important role in submitting articles to IPSF Publications
and in distributing the finished publications in their home countries. It shall be the responsibility
of the Contact Person to write articles about IPSF (if possible) to the professional, student, and other
journals or magazines in their own countries.
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IPSF DEVELOPMENT FUND (DF)
The Development Fund (DF) was established in 1969, over 40 years ago. Since then, its main goal
has been to give each and every pharmacy student an equal opportunity to fully participate
in IPSF activities.
The Development Fund was created to help people to participate in IPSF Congresses. In addition to
this, it can now support students when they are taking part in the IPSF Student Exchange Program,
running IPSF Campaigns, or paying IPSF membership fees.
When making decisions on DF Grants, applicants coming from developing countries are prioritised.
The Development Fund is steered by the Development Fund Committee that consists of three
members and the IPSF Treasurer. It is chaired by the Development Fund Coordinator (df@ipsf.org).
Also the Chairperson of Student Exchange and the Student Exchange Committee may take part in
the decisions on Student Exchange grants.
The main source of the DF funds is charity auctions held during the IPSF World Congress and the
Regional Symposia. The idea behind the auction is that congress participants bring unique and
genuine items from their home countries. Some items are even especially tailor-made for the auction.
Other income sources are donations and congress profits. IPSF congresses are non-profit events
but in the occasion of any profit, the congress host must donate part of the profit to the Development
Fund according to the Constitution. If you wish to donate money please contact the Treasurer
(treasurer@ipsf.org).
Each year, the DF Committee sends out calls for applications to DF grants. All applications must
be sent on an official application form by the deadline set by the DF Committee and they must follow
the instructions as explained in the application form and call for applications. Calls are distributed
through the IPSF website and IPSF e-groups; IPSF Contact Persons are responsible for distributing
the calls and applications further nationally to their members.
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IPSF WORLD CONGRESS
The focal point of IPSF activities is a 10-day congress held in a different country each year. The
congress aims to provide an international forum for the review and discussion of all subjects, which
may advance the objectives of the Federation and those of pharmacy students throughout the world.
It is also an ideal opportunity to improve relations between countries, student organizations and
individual students. The next IPSF Congresses will be held in Hatyai, Thailand in August 2011 and
in Egypt in August 2012. The program includes:
General Assembly (GA): Reports, policy statements, and future IPSF Projects are discussed and
voted upon by Full Member organizations. Elections for the Executive Committee for the following
year are held. All official delegates must attend the GAs.
Delegates’ Interviews will take place shortly after arrival. These are informal meetings where the
IPSF Executive Committee and official delegates have the opportunity to get acquainted and answer
any questions delegates may have. This is also the event when the Secretary General asks for the
credentials form of the delegates. The credentials allow Full Members to vote and contain important
information about Members in Association. Both Full Members and Members in Association should
submit their forms to the Secretary General.
Scientific Symposium and Poster Exhibition: A full day event, where guest speakers address the
audience on aspects of a specific topic, followed by a discussion involving the congress participants
and their views. Congress participants can submit posters relevant to the symposium topic.
Patient Counseling Event: A patient counseling event has been held annually on an international
level since 1989. Participants are given a “pharmacy scenario” and after 10 minutes reading time,
they should counsel the patient on all aspects of the prescription and determine the underlying
situation. The event is videotaped and the student is evaluated on
competence and communication skills. All are encouraged to
participate and learn from this educational
experience.
Workshops: Small discussion groups to investigate areas of pharmaceutical interest. Topics usually
include regional matters, public health campaigns, the Student Exchange Program, preparatory
meetings for the Patient Counseling Event and training sessions on various topics.
There are also workshops specifically for IPSF Contact Persons, to allow CPs from around the world
to meet one another in person and discuss issues such as promoting IPSF in their own countries
and IPSF activities they have taken part in over the last year.
Development Fund Auction: This fund is used to help students from developing countries
participate in IPSF activities. Money is collected from an auction of donated gifts that participants
bring from their home countries.
Educational Symposium: This is a full day event where international guest speakers pre-sent on
a topic connected to pharmacy education and run workshops to generate ideas and stimulate
discussion.
Social activities: The Reception Committee of the host organisation has the responsibility of keeping
the participants entertained while they get better acquainted. Activities usually include a Traditional
Night, an International Evening, and a Congress Ball/Gala.
The Congress is the most important activity of the Federation. For Full Members, it gives the
opportunity to influence the future of the Federation by using their voting rights and making decisions
on proposals during the General Assembly. For all members, it is an opportunity to make new
suggestions, contribute opinions, and share their ideas with colleagues from all over the world.
Information on applications, visas, accommodation, board and program can be found at the
congress website.
PARTNER ORGANISATIONS
International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)
FIP was founded in 1912 and its aim is the development of pharmacy in the international sphere as
a profession and as an applied science, as well as expanding the role of the pharmacist in the field
of public health.
FIP supported the formation of IPSF in 1949, and since then a good relationship has
been established and maintained. FIP provides office facilities and office supplies for
IPSF that is one of the most important forms of support.
Each year, IPSF organises FIP/IPSF Students’ Day at the FIP Congress and in
addition to this, several joint-sessions with many FIP Sections. IPSF regularly
publishes articles in the FIP International Journal and quotes this official FIP
publication in the News Bulletin. In 2005 a Patient Counseling Booklet was launched jointly with FIP.
For more information, visit at www.fip.org.
Since the beginning of the 1980s, IPSF has been seeking active contact with WHO. In 1992 an
official working relationship was established between IPSF and WHO. It was a major achievement
of the Federation to be granted Official Relations status with
WHO in
2004, thanks to the efforts put forth by Executive
Members at that time. IPSF is the second student
organisation to be granted such status. IPSF continues
to actively participate in WHO initiatives while
collaborating on many new joint projects, such as the anti-
counterfeit medicines project. IPSF also offers internship places for IPSF members within various
WHO departments .
IPSF sends representatives to WHO Executive Board Meetings and World Health
Assemblies. For more information visit at www.who.int.
IPSF has had Operational Relations status with UNESCO since 2002 and IPSF is
working with UNESCO on improving higher education and ethics in pharmacy. The
Moving On II and Moving On III projects have been presented at the UNESCO
meetings on Higher Education on various occasions. In addition to the Higher
Education meetings, IPSF is sending its representatives to other UNESCO
meetings such as General Conferences and Executive Board Meetings.
For more information please visit www.unesco.org.
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Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA)
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