WPPF Season’s Greetings Message

NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC PHARMACEUTICAL FORUM

Our Western Pacific region, with its great diversity of culture, the end of the calendar year, brings us to a season of celebration reflection. Christmas with its greetings of goodwill to all, the new calendar year of 2012 and the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, bring a message of hope and regeneration. No matter what our culture it is a season for family. Pharmacists are part of a special family made up of individual country pharmaceutical associations within our Western Pacific Pharmaceutical Forum joined in global unity within the family of FIP.

The past year has brought great problems with more financial crises looming ahead. Our region experienced unimaginable disasters with the earthquake in Japan that affect so many of our Japanese colleagues. It is beyond our imagination that 600 community pharmacies and over 20,000 people just disappeared in one day. Pharmacists of Japan are to be congratulated on the recovery work so successfully completed under the guidance of JPA. The Japan Pharmacists Association held a ‘recovery from the great East Japan earthquake prayer ceremony and symposium’ in Senae in October to pray for the victims and the speedy recovery of their country and a sharing of experiences with the earthquake. I am sure we all join with them and their prayers.

Earthquakes in New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Fiji, as well as disastrous floods in Australia and the Philippines took its toll on our pharmacists. Let us hope for a disaster-free 2012.

Pharmacy is in a critical state of change. Globally the profession must move from a supply to a patient focus function. As in all professions, change of focus is most difficult. We must have the courage to proceed to secure the future of our proud profession. It is most encouraging to see the developments in pharmaceutical care being established and expanded in countries like Japan and Taiwan.

We in the Western Pacific Pharmaceutical Forum area, together with our South East Asian Forum colleagues have much to look forward to. We operate in the most dynamic economic developing region in the world and as pharmacists we must make sure that our practice changes keep pace with the economic progress of our region.

The year 2012 brings FIP into sharp focus as it celebrates the centenary of its establishment. We look forward to a big attendance from the Western Pacific region in Amsterdam in October 2012 to participate in that celebration.

On behalf of the Western Pacific Pharmaceutical Forum Executive Board and myself as President; Associate Professor Wai Keung Chui, Vice-President; Reynaldo Umali, General Secretary, Dr Tony Tarn, Mr Nobuo Yamamoto, Mrs Myung Suk Park and our website manager, Ms Miranda Liang and her advisory committee and the Forum’s Executive Secretary, Nariel Bennetts-Ware, may I wish you all the Season’s Greetings and a successful year 2012 and a most successful joyful Year of the Dragon.

John Ware OAM

President

Western Pacific Pharmaceutical Forum of FIP