WESTERN PACIFIC PHARMACEUTICAL FORUM

The Annual General Meeting of the Western Pacific Pharmaceutical Forum, held Abdeen Room, Hotel Intercontinental City Stars, Cairo, Egypt on Friday 2 September 2005 at 5.00 pm.

Member country and organisations with official representation were Australia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and China Taiwan.  35 persons were present. 

Apologies were received from the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, Dr Jean Parrot, President, FIP;  Dr Peter Kielgast and Mr Ton Hoek.

1. Welcome and Opening

President, John Ware opened the meeting and welcomed those present.  He declared that under the constitution of the Western Pacific Pharmaceutical Forum that a quorum of member countries was present.

The President went on to welcome Mr Herbert Cabana, President of the Europharm Forum;  Ms Eeva Terasalmi, Past President of the Europharm Forum,  Mr Prafull Sheth, General Secretary of the ASEAN Forum and Ms Mabel Torongo, President of the African Forum, as well as the General Secretary of the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association.

The President said that he was delighted to see so many representatives of the young pharmacists organisation present and welcomed the President of IPSF and Past Presidents Tana Wuliji and Simon Bell.

2. President’s Report

The President presented an overview of the Annual Report that had been published in hard copy and is attached as an appendix to these minutes.  He particularly stressed the fact that having completed its fourth year of operation and having achieved much in bringing a greater understanding of the practice of pharmacy and the pharmacy organisations within our region into focus with one another.  The last 12 months had represented a period of consolidation and the Forum was looking forward to a future of playing a principal role in the region by working closely with the World Health Organisation and bringing the pharmaceutical associations of the Western Pacific Region, through the Forum, much closer to each other and to FIP.

The President said that it was a privilege to work with an Executive Committee, all of whom have great visions for co-operation in our region and the development of pharmacy practice.

The President specifically thanked the members of the Executive, Mr Nobuo Yamamoto, Mr Reynaldo Umali, Dr Wai Keung Chui, Dr Lu Lizhu and Ms Mei-Ling Hsiao and thanked them for the co-operation and devotion to the development of our regional body of FIP working together with the World Health Organisation.  He also stressed his appreciation of the support given by Dr Budiono Santoso of the World Health Organisation Western Pacific Region, Officer in Charge of Pharmaceuticals and for the support given to the Forum by the central office of FIP in The Hague.  The full report is included as part of the minutes.

Following questions and discussions on the report, the report was adopted unanimously by the Annual General Meeting.

3. Financial Report

Mr Reynaldo Umali, Professional Secretary of the Forum, presented the financial report for the period 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005.  The report was presented in US dollars.  The report indicated that although a small loss of approximately $US2,000 occurred for the year, the finances of the Forum were still positive.  A small surplus of funds enables us  to commence work for the years 2005-2006.

Mr Umali said that the Forum needed extra income, particularly if it was to undertake any large projects and that a wider membership base should be pursued.  He stressed the need to identify programs that WHO could support.   The ability of the Forum to establish itself has been achieved largely by the enthusiasm of the supporting countries and of the individuals concerned who have supported the principal cost of meeting attendance themselves.

After some questions and discussion, the meeting unanimously adopted the financial report for the year 2004-2005.

The General Secretary presented the proposed budget for the year 2005-2006.  The budget as outlined showed that it would be revenue neutral with expected income and expenditure of approximately $US25,000. 

The proposed budget was unanimously accepted by the meeting.

4. Change to Statutes

In accordance with the Statutes of the Western Pacific Pharmaceutical Forum the following motion was circulated to all member countries and to representatives present at the meeting.

The motion to become Item 13A of the Statutes was –

To allow for a balance succession to the Executive of the Forum, of the founding Executive, two members will retire at the end of six years, the remaining founding members shall retire by rotation at two year intervals, allowing for a maximum term of four further years.

The President said that the purpose of the proposed change had come after long discussions with FIP and from within the Executive of the Forum and it was to allow for an orderly and sustainable succession of members in the interests of the future of the Forum.  He went on to say that unexpected changes to the nominations would now see the total change of the Executive within four years, subject to the motion being passed.

The President said that no objections had been received from member organisations prior to the meeting and that indeed some expressions of support to allow for the orderly succession was most desirable and it had been an oversight when the original Statutes were written.

The President put the motion and it was carried unanimously.

The new Statutes, as amended, will be circulated with the minutes of the meeting.

5. Election of the Executive

The President, John Ware, indicated that as the Statutes called for an election of members of the Executive each two years and this year was an election year.  Nominations for positions on the Executive had been called and he would step down from the chair and ask Reynaldo Umali to conduct the meeting and report on the nominations for the elections.

Mr Umali reported that the following nominations had been received –

Mr John Ware had been nominated to re-elected as President by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.  There being no further nominations for the position of President, Mr Ware was declared elected.

Mr Nobuo Yamamoto had been nominated by the Japan Pharmacists Association as Vice-President.  There being no further nominations for the position of Vice-President, Mr Yamamoto was declared elected.

Nominations were received for the following places on the Executive Committee –

Dr Wai Keung Chui nominated by the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore.

Dr Tony Tarn nominated by the Pharmaceutical Society of China Taiwan.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Korea nominated Ms Kim Jung Whai

Mr Reynaldo Umali for position of General Secretary nominated by the Pharmaceutical Association of the Philippines.

These representatives are therefore declared elected in the respective positions so nominated.

On resuming the chair of the meeting, the President John Ware, expressed his thanks to the confidence of the Forum in re-electing him as President.  He said that he had enjoyed the challenge in the establishment of the Forum and that this would be his final period of two years as a member of the Executive.  It was his intention that under the extended period of the constitution that he would be the next of the original Executive to leave at the conclusion of the six year period and that successively other members who had been part of the Executive since the inception would follow of periods so that an orderly change could take place.

The President went on to say that he noted that Mei-Ling Hsiao from China Taiwan had not nominated and is being replaced by Dr Tarn.  He expressed his appreciation of the enormous amount of work and support given to the Forum by Mei-Ling Hsiao.  Dr Hsiao’s contribution to the work and establishment of the Forum covered many areas, but most particularly apart from her enthusiasm for the improvement of the practice of pharmacy, was her knowledge of government issues within the region.  The guidance and advice that Mei-Ling Hsiao was able to give the Executive of the Forum during her four years of service was of inestimable value in helping to establish the Forum initially and in establishing an understanding of the approaches of the many and varied governments within the region.  She had been a friend and a counsellor and it was hoped that her contribution to establishing this regional Forum within FIP would always be remembered.

On behalf of the Executive Committee and the member countries of the Forum, the President thanked Mei-Ling Hsiao for her contribution. 

The President also noted that the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association had not nominated a representative for the Executive and that Dr Lu Lizhu was not seeking re-election.

The President thanked Dr Lu Lizhu for her contribution to the Forum.  He work and enthusiasm had given the Forum the opportunity to see how the practice of pharmacy is being restructured and developed within the Peoples Republic of China.  Dr Lu Lizhu would be missed by all members of the Executive. 

The Forum will continue to work closely with the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association through its director of international affairs, Mr Chunguang Liu.

He went on to say that the Forum welcomed the nomination and election of Dr Tarn, a young pharmacist from China Taiwan who he felt would bring to the meeting the vision of young pharmacists for the development of practice within the region.

The President indicated that Mr John Chang, President of the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society had indicated his willingness to serve on the committee, but no formal nomination had been received from the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society.  The Forum has the ability to co-opt certain members to make sure that representation on the Executive spreads across the region and this matter could be considered later.  However, he indicated that the Forum Statutes also allow for an observer from the Federation of Asian Pharmaceutical Associations and it may be possible for Mr Chang to fulfil this role.

6. Close of Meeting

The President thanked all those attending and for their contribution and he said how delighted he was to see so many guests and he also invited the representatives of the IPSF to address the meeting if they wished.

Katja Hakkarainen, the President of IPSF indicated that the regional group would be very pleased to work in association with the Forum at all times and indicated that Yoko Gocho, IPSF Japan be regional representative would be identified as the regional representative.

The President indicated that Yoko Gocho would be notified of all meetings of the Forum and wherever possible her attendance would be much appreciated.

Finally, the President invited all those present to adjourn to the adjoining room and join with the Executive Committee at a cocktail reception.

The meeting closed at 6.00 pm.