Lomé International Pharmaceutical Interprofessional Dialogue

The International Pharmaceutical Forum (FPI) is an annual meeting for pharmacists and other health professionals to discuss issues relating to the development of the pharmaceutical sector. The meeting is organised under the aegis of the Inter-Order of Pharmacists of Africa (IOPA), the Intersyndical of Pharmacists of Africa (ISPHARMA), the Association of National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agencies (AANRP) or the Directorates of Pharmacy and Medicines (DPM), and the Association of Central Purchasing Agencies for Essential Medicines (ACAME).
Launched by the African Council of Ministers of Health in Yaoundé in 1999, the first Pharmaceutical Forum was held in Benin in 2000. This year, Togo is hosting the 23ᵉ edition of the FPI, the main theme of which is: ”Universal access to healthcare: challenges, issues and prospects for the pharmaceutical sector”. During this forum scheduled from 3 to 6 July 2024, sub-themes will be addressed including that of inter-professional dialogue for universal access to healthcare.

CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution urging countries to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) as a key priority for international development.  The aim is both to strengthen health systems and to guarantee the availability of and access to quality care, particularly in the fight against maternal and infant mortality, major pandemics and non-communicable diseases.

In 2015, all 193 Member States of the United Nations agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in New York and defined an ambitious programme to achieve a safer, fairer and healthier world by 2030, including the CSU. 

Several countries have launched their universal health coverage programmes through universal health insurance and are working towards achieving the MDGs.

After a decade of implementing health insurance for public sector workers through the Institut National d’Assurance Maladie (INAM), and in application of Axis 1 of the government’s roadmap for Togo 2020-2025, the country has decided, through the adoption of Law No. 2021-2022 of 18 October 2021, to extend health risk cover to all other sections of the population, by instituting Universal Health Insurance (AMU).

Throughout the world, achieving universal health coverage (UHC) implies aligning all essential health services throughout life, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. Delivering these services requires health and personal care workers with an optimal mix of skills at all levels of the healthcare system, who are equitably distributed, adequately supported with access to quality-assured products, and with decent working conditions.

The patient is at the crossroads of all the specialities inherent in healthcare. Depending on the pathology concerned, they are at the interface of one or more specialists. The patient is indivisible, but the different specialities and medical fields divide him or her up. Inclusive dialogue will enable the pathology to be managed holistically with a view to optimum recovery.

Objectives

General objective

To strengthen dialogue between the various players in the healthcare system with a view to the proper implementation of universal access to healthcare.

Specific objectives

  • Identify the bottlenecks preventing smooth dialogue between the various healthcare players
  • Diagnose the potential obstacles to the development of actions in favour of universal access in the intervening professions.
  • Initiate an inclusive and dynamic partnership network based on the CSU of the various healthcare players at national and international level.
  • To share experiences of this concerted framework of the various healthcare players in the most advanced countries.

METHODOLOGY

The theme will be developed in the form of a round table led by a panel of experts on the CSU and representatives of the various socio-professional categories (doctors, medical assistants, midwives, nurses, pharmacists, biologists, insurers, etc.), partners in the CSU.

EXPECTED RESULTS

At the end of the work of this sub-theme,

  • A framework conducive to discussion and sharing between the various stakeholders in the healthcare system is in place
  • Experiences are shared between the various socio-professional partners in the CSU,
  • The various problems inherent in the optimal implementation of universal access to healthcare within each sector concerned are identified.
  • Recommendations for better involvement of the various players are drawn up and forwarded to the various governments.

OUTLOOK

A potential perspective would be to set up an intra- and inter-country partnership and development network through a national or regional pact of partner professionals in the CSU.