For those of you that were unable to make it to the ISOPP Meeting in Shanghai, or couldn't make it to the AGM; I want to share some highlights from my report. Firstly and most importantly; ISOPP Members are now able to apply for UICC Technical Fellowships. These fellowships provide funding for recipients to visit another centre to learn/be mentored in a skill that the pharmacist does not currently possess and will be of benefit to the recipient and their current institution. Applicants will be required to have their manager or a senior institutional administrator 'sign off' on their application. The funding varies with how far/where the recipient wants to travel to, but could potentially fund between 2-4 weeks of extramural training/mentorship.

 

More information on these Fellowships and how to apply can be found on the UICC website at: http://www.uicc.org/what-we-do/capacity-building/grants/fellowships#accitem20341

 

These fellowships are available year round, so you can apply at any time throughout the year. If you apply and are successful in receiving one of these Fellowships, please let me know via email at john.wiernikowski@gmail.com so we can share your success with the ISOPP Community. If you are a potential mentor (have a unique practice or skill set) and would be interested in having a UICC Fellow for up to 4 weeks, then please share your contact information/practice focus with me at the above email address. We will compile a list of Sites/Mentors for applicants.

 

The other significant development is the Treatment For All campaign launched by the UICC earlier this year. ISOPP is participating in that campaign to build oncology pharmacy capacity in low and middle income countries with an initial focus on Africa. As part of that campaign we have been asking for and continue to need your Pharmacy "Vignettes" or Testimonials. Testimonials from Low and Middle income countries would be particularly helpful.

 

What the UICC needs, as part of its media campaign, is a series of "Vignettes" focused around the topic/theme of "What my Oncology Pharmacist does for me/our Institution". These can be of varying length ranging from "Tweet" size (144-288 characters) to Narratives of 250-500 words and can/should be from: Patients & Families, Managers/Administrators, Oncologists, Nurses, other Allied Health professionals.

 

The vignettes should ideally:

• Span the breadth of services Pharmacists provide, including: clinical, patient safety, cost-effective inventory management, reduction in waste etc.

• Include the name and status of the provider and where they are located (e.g. Ted Smith, Cancer Patient, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, CANADA Margaret Hobbs, Senior Administrator, Cancer Program, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, CANADA).

 

The more vignettes we can provide to UICC the better. ISOPP is soliciting these through its global membership, and I am requesting you to share or write a quick "Tweet" / short Narrative to help us with this endeavor.

 

Please submit "vignettes" to me via email at john.wiernikowski@gmail.com at your earliest convenience and I will collate and share them with ISOPP and the UICC. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

 

Finally, if you are interested in serving on the Task Force, please join us! We are planning to be involved in the next iteration of WHO Essential Medicine lists reviews that will be occurring later this year. It's a very focused and busy time, so the more people we can call on to help with the task and provide feedback/insight the better.

 

John Wiernikowski, PharmD, FISOPP, FCAPhO

ISOPP Advocacy Task Force Chair