The work of Pharmaciens Sans Frontières in supporting the delivery of health care in the world's problem areas was described to the FIP congress by the organisation's president, Professor Claudi Cuchillo.
Speaking during the assembly of pharmacist and pharmaceutical scientists on September 8, Professor Cuchillo said that PSF had been founded in 1985. Its main aim was to ensure that essential pharmaceutical supplies reached the poor and needy. Its stated purpose was "to promote and establish economic and geographical access to quality care for all, particularly in the pharmaceutical field".
PSF organised missions of three types: emergency missions to countries hit by natural, economic or human disasters; development missions to help improve health care; and technical assistance missions. All these were preceded by an assessment mission to determine the classes of medicine and types of assistance that were needed.
PSF had organised missions to countries in Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia, the Far East and Latin America. It was currently present in 18 countries. The most important area currently was the Balkans, where PSF had bases in Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia.
Life on a mission was hard. The first problem was to find accommodation and warehousing, which could be very difficult. In Bosnia, most warehouses had been destroyed or lacked electricity or were within sniper range. Following the World Health Organisation guidelines for drug donations was not easy when there was such disruption.
It was important to foster good relations with the local people, respecting them and making use of their abilities. It was also necessary to build good relationships with other non-governmental organisations, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and the Red Cross, and "official" organisations such as the WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Professor Cuchillo said that, although founded and based in France, PSF was now supported by national associations in a number of other countries, including Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Tunisia and Switzerland. The national associations set up their own action programmes, often working together.
PSF's internal organisation was financed by donations from industry, etc, and by the members themselves. But the main missions were generally financed by governments.
Pharmaciens Sans Frontières (PSF) has been awarded the practitioner of the year award for 1999 by the FIP Foundation for Education and Research. It is the first time that one of the foundation's annual awards has gone to an organisation rather than an individual pharmacist.
The award was presented to PSF's president (Professor Claudi Cuchillo) during the FIP congress opening session on September 6.
The FIP Foundation's lifetime achievement award for a pharmacy practitioner was presented to Mr Mathis Gundersveen (Norway). The lifetime achievement award for a pharmaceutical scientist went to Professor Lennart Paalzow (Sweden) and the pharmaceutical scientist of the year award was presented to Dr Kathleen Giacomini (United States). A new award for biotechnology went to Dr Bob Dorr (United States). The Høst-Madsen medal was presented to Mr Ronald Borchardt (United States).
Also on the programme for the opening session was the presentation of honorary FIP membership to Mr Lars-Einar Fryklöf (Sweden). However, Mr Fryklöf had died only a few days before the congress. It was announced that the award would be made posthumously to his widow later in the year.