On December 3, 2024, the 14th annual Pharmacy Summit of Ukraine took place in Kyiv, which brought together about 300 pharmacy specialists.
This year, the summit speakers included people’s deputies of Ukraine, members of the Verkhovna Rada Committees, officials of the Ministries, representatives of the National Security and Defense Council, the leadership of the State Medical Service and the National Health Service of Ukraine, representatives of manufacturers and distributors of pharmaceutical products, members of specialized public associations, educators and scientists.
The National University of Pharmacy was represented at the forum by Acting Rector Professor Alla KOTVITSKA.
During the day, several panel discussions important for the pharmaceutical sector of Ukraine took place, in particular, State, business, consumer – how to achieve balance; Pharmacy market: where are we moving according to numbers, dedicated to pharmaceutical market analytics; Current Challenges of Today with an overview of issues related to changes in the regulatory framework of Good Pharmacy Practice, scheduled inspections of pharmacy establishments, booking of military personnel, etc.; Evolution of the provision of medicines in turbulent times, which covered the topics of state regulation of prices for medicines.
The problematic issues of the shortage of qualified personnel, training of pharmaceutical workers, vaccination services in pharmacies, the state of pharmacology in modern realities were considered within the framework of the discussion Pharmaceutical service as a marker of professional activity – an opportunity or a challenge?. Among the speakers were the Head of the Department of Medical Personnel, Education and Science of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Serhiy UBOGOV, Acting Rector of the National University of Pharmacy Alla KOTVITSKA, Head of the Department of Standards in the Field of Health Care of the SEC of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Kostyantyn KOSYACHENKO, Head of the Department of Pharmacology of the National Medical University named after O.O. Bogomolets Anna ZAYCHENKO, Chairman of the Board of the NGO All-Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Chamber Oleg KLIMOV.
Acting Rector of the National University of Pharmacy Alla KOTVITSKA presented expert opinions on new trends in pharmaceutical education and best educational practices in her reports. The analysis covered a range of issues affecting the quality of education and concerned the organizational structure of pharmaceutical education, the expansion of the network of educational institutions that train specialists for the pharmaceutical sector, and professional and educational standards of pharmacy. The Acting Rector also talked about the Strategic Directions for the Development of Pharmaceutical Education in Ukraine, which were developed by the educational and scientific community and presented and approved on September 18, 2024 at a meeting of the Visiting Board of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine chaired by the Minister of Health Viktor LYASHKO at the NUPh. In particular, Alla Anatoliivna spoke about the key markers defined by the Strategic Directions for the Development of Pharmaceutical Education in Ukraine: the abolition of the correspondence form of obtaining pharmaceutical education, the introduction of a dual form of obtaining education, the creation and functioning of educational and production pharmacies at university hospitals (clinics), the need to revise the structure and content of the test components of the Unified State Qualification Exam and the licensing exam KROK 3 Pharmacy, the development of the Regulation on the authors and reviewers of test questions, as well as the development of a methodology for analyzing the needs of the healthcare sector in pharmaceutical personnel. The central topic of the speech of the Acting Rector of the National University of Pharmacy analyzed the state of continuous professional development (CPD) in Ukraine, its regulatory framework, requirements for providers and CPD measures, certification of pharmaceutical workers, in particular the draft order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine On Approval of the Procedure for Certification of Healthcare Workers and Amendments to Some Orders of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, which is currently under public discussion. Alla Anatoliivna also presented practical proposals for solving urgent problems.
Taking into account the significant educational experience of the National University of Pharmacy, new projects of the Institute for Advanced Training of Pharmacy Specialists of the NUPh were presented. This is the School of Continuous Professional Development for HR Specialists of Pharmaceutical Organizations, which can be considered as appropriate assistance for the personnel departments of practical pharmacy, as well as CPD measures for studying the Ukrainian language and preparing for the exam. A document certifying the level of proficiency in the state language is envisaged as mandatory for the certification of pharmaceutical workers.
The summit program showed that it traditionally became an opportunity to discuss steps to strengthen national pharmacy in Ukraine, and pharmaceutical education in particular. After all, as Alla KOTVITSKA noted: ‘Trends are born in the dialogue of stakeholders’.