This week saw the 27th European Pharmacy Congress and Exhibition, In Farma 2015, organised at the Fira de Barcelona by the Barcelona College of Pharmacists (COFB), the Official College of Pharmacists of Madrid (COFM) and Interalia, the company that organises conferences and trade fairs in Barcelona. The event comprised, on the one hand, the European Community Pharmacy Congress, which addressed the main issues of current interest to the pharmacy sector, and, on the other, the Medicines and Parapharmacy Exhibition, where products and new developments were showcased.
As regards the Congress, this year’s theme was “Action-oriented. Experiences to improve pharmacy practice in the present“, and the presentations given were all related to this theme. On the one hand, we would highlight the session on “60 key points for managing a community pharmacy”, delivered by 12 speakers, with each speaker speaking for 30 minutes. On the other hand, there were presentations such as “Research projects in community pharmacy” and “Beyond the scales: a matter of weight”.
However, this year we would like to give a special mention to the presentation “Self-care in the pharmacy”, which took place on Thursday 26th, the final day of Infarma. The discussion, moderated by Teodomiro Hidalgo, National Spokesperson for Community Pharmacies at the General Council of Official Colleges of Pharmacists of Spain, addressed the complexity of the self-care sector and focused on the role that the pharmacy must play in establishing a new model of care for this new type of self-care consumer. During the discussion, Manel Vera, Managing Director of Ferrer Healthcare, argued that “if we do not provide patients with a space in the pharmacy for self-care, they will look for it elsewhere”, and emphasised the importance “not of people coming in, but of people coming back”. The Chief Executive of ANEFP, Jaume Pey, reminded us that “self-care is on the rise”, citing data confirming that both the number of customers and the sector’s turnover have increased, and stated that “no one should leave the pharmacy without a product or some advice”. For her part, Rosa Maria Valls, from Avène Dermatological Laboratories, spoke about what customers look for in a pharmacy, highlighting product quality and professional advice from the pharmacist as key strengths.
As for the exhibition, it featured 335 exhibitors, including laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, NGOs and the media, with a total of 1,100 brands in attendance. You could find practically everything there: from over-the-counter medicines, cosmetics and healthcare products – which accounted for the largest number of exhibitors – to new technology firms (pharmacy management software, business communication services, vending machines, product sorting machines, various apps), some credit and investment institutions, and even sales representatives for an eco-friendly detergent. However, without a doubt, the big news this year – which all visitors commented on – was the huge increase in exhibitors of natural products, both in cosmetics and dietary supplements. And that is good news both for businesses in this product range and for producers of medicinal plants.
Set slightly apart from the heart of the industry, at either end of the hall, we find the stands of the sector’s leading publications – IMFarmacias, Correo Farmacéutico, Farmanatur, Farmaventas and El Global – as well as some of the professional associations – such as Aprofarm, the Independent Professional Association of Formulating Pharmacists – and the NGOs: Pharmacists Without Borders (FSFE) and Farmamundi.
It should be noted that, due to the expressions of solidarity with the victims of the plane crash involving the Barcelona–Düsseldorf flight – on which two executives from Fira de Barcelona, amongst others, were travelling – many of the institutional events scheduled for the congress did not take place, including the opening ceremony itself, which was replaced by a minute’s silence in mourning for the air disaster.