Africa-Press – Cape verde. The President of the Order of Pharmacists of Cape Verde (OFCV), Heidy Teixeira, stated this Friday that the institution’s first ten years were marked by the “affirmation, structuring, and regulation” of the pharmacy profession in the country.
These remarks were made to the press during the OFCV’s Second Pharmacy Symposium, held on Friday in the city of Praia under the theme “10 Years Since the First OFCV Elections.”
According to the head of the organization, these ten years laid the groundwork for the sector’s development, enabling them—at this moment of celebration—to look ahead and plan for the coming decade.
“These were the ten years that shaped and enabled the establishment of the professional Order of Pharmacists in Cape Verde, as well as the structuring of what the profession represents today,” she emphasized.
However, Heidy Teixeira identified one of the primary challenges faced as the need to adapt to a context of growing demands within the sector—a consequence of crises in healthcare and in pharmaceutical supply chains.
“I believe our greatest challenge has been keeping pace with this metamorphosis of the sector itself—this transformation of the pharmaceutical field—while simultaneously laying the very foundations upon which we, as pharmacists, rely to carry out our work,” she argued.
Regarding the difficulties associated with medicine shortages, the President noted that Cape Verde—being an island nation—remains dependent on the importation of pharmaceutical products and raw materials, despite advancements in domestic production.
To mitigate these impacts, she affirmed that there has been a concerted effort among the various stakeholders in the sector, involving the adoption of adaptive strategies to address the difficulties.
“There has been very close collaboration among all parties to ensure this situation can be effectively managed,” she assured. She added that a key objective of this second symposium is to bring this issue to the forefront for discussion, thereby offering a perspective on current actions and enabling the planning of strategies to resolve the problem of medicine shortages. For his part, Hélder Mota Filipe, the international representative of the Association of Pharmacists of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, emphasized that during the meeting he will focus on topics such as strengthening the role of pharmacists within healthcare systems and the sustainability of these systems, particularly in light of the high cost of therapeutic innovation in fields such as cancer and rare diseases.
On the international front, he characterized cooperation among Portuguese-speaking countries as “dynamic and continuous,” involving joint initiatives aimed at advancing the profession, pharmaceutical education, and healthcare delivery.
The event, taking place from the 23rd to the 25th of this month, is geared toward healthcare professionals, academics, and researchers, and aims to promote scientific knowledge, the exchange of experiences, and the recognition of the pharmaceutical profession in Cape Verde.
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