The Journal has received a letter suggesting that pharmacists should boycott this year's International Pharmaceutical Federation congress in Vienna as a protest against the inclusion of Jörg Haider's extremist Freedom Party in Austria's coalition government. While the writer's concern about political developments in Austria may be justified, we cannot support his proposal for two reasons.
Our first reason is that the main victims of a boycott would be the people served by the international pharmacy community, and particularly those in the developing world - which, incidentally, has more than its share of nations facing the threat of political extremism. As the FIP's secretary general has pointed out (p316), the annual congress is the major source of the organisation's funding for its projects to improve pharmaceutical services in developing countries. Without that income, the work would have to stop.
Our second reason for backing the congress is that it offers a superb opportunity for pharmacists from all over the world to demonstrate to Austria's extremists, within their own country, that people of all nations, ethnic groups and religions can work together in harmony with the aim of improving health care throughout the world. We hope the FIP is able to promote that message widely within Austria, where the congress will no doubt receive a warm welcome from the city of Vienna, which happens to be under a socialist-led administration.