New! News from the network
Gertrude's Children's Hospital in Nairobi, an EPN member, is organizing a regional training course on Advances in Pharmaceutical Care, from September 26th to 30th 2011. The focus is on Paediatric Extemporaneous Formulations and Medication Safety.
The training is open to physicians, pharmacy personnel in hospital or community settings, nurses, interested health officials in hospitals, ministries of health, university and private organizations. Click here to read more and obtain the registration form: Gertrude's training course (465.75 kB) ASSOMESCA 44th General Assembly
EPN member ASSOMESCA (Associations des Œuvres Médicales des Eglises pour la Santé en Centrafrique) in Central African Republic, held its 44th General Assembly from July 1st to 2nd 2011. Apart from discussions on the activities and management of the institution, some of the topics on the table where the management of medicines, advocacy and counselling and prevention of HIV. During this meeting, ASSOMESCA also distributed more than 60 posters and booklets of the EPN guidelines for effective and efficient pharmaceutical services, to its members. Passing of CHAK staff Justus Kilonzo
It is with deep sorrow that EPN has learnt of the death of Mr. Justus Kilonzo who worked for CHAK as a driver. Justus Kilonzo passed away on June 21st 2011, after a short illness. Mr Kilonzo was taken ill while on a field trip in Makueni and rushed to PCEA Kikuyu Hospital where he died while being admitted. He was buried on July 2nd 2011 at his rural home in Kitui. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the entire CHAK fraternity. May God rest his soul in eternal peace and give comfort and strength to his family and friends in this hour of great trial. IMA launches contest to improve its logo
IMA World Health, an EPN member, feels that their current logo does not adequately reflect what IMA really is – an innovative and compassionate nonprofit organization that advances health and healing all over the world. They recently launched a design contest, encouraging everybody to submit original designs for a new IMA logo that thoughtfully and powerfully reflects who IMA is and what they do. The designer of the winning logo will receive a $1,000 cash prize. The deadline for entry is 11:59pm EST on August 15th 2011.
http://www.imaworldhealth.org/ima-world-health-logo-design-contest.html MMI Assembly and technical workshop
Medicus Mundi International is organizing its Board meeting and extraordinary Assembly in Brescia, Italy on October 27th 2011, followed by an open technical workshop on mother and child health on October 28th. With only 3 years ahead to the 2015 deadline of the Millennium Development Goals, MMI considers the time is particularly appropriate to discuss the future scenarios of the efforts concerning the health of all mothers and children in the world.
http://www.medicusmundi.org/en/contributions/events/2011/mmi-network-meeting-and-workshop-on-mother-and-child-health CoRSUM represents EPN at WHO Global Forum
On April 27th 2011, Natalia Cebotarenco - director or EPN member institution CoRSUM, represented FBOs, EPN and Medicus Mundi International at the WHO Global Forum 2011. The theme of the forum, held in Moscow, was Addressing the Challenges of Noncommunicable Diseases and brought together about 300 participants. Among the risk factors and diseases discussed were diet, harmful use of alcohol, tobacco use, physical inactivity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes. Natalia concluded that the NCDs are given high priority at the global level and we can do a lot of good work addressing the prevention and treatment of these diseases. Download the full report here: WHO global forum 2011 (307.33 kB)
http://www.corsum.net/ Francophone course on Performance Based Financing
The Diocese of Batouri in Cameroon (part of our member organization OCASC) and HDP Rwanda are organizing an international training on Performance Based Financing in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The training will be held between June 27th and July 9th 2011. The course language is French. The cost of 2,300 USD covers accommodation, meals, course materials and local transport. Those who are interested can download more information from our website or contact one of the organizers: Dr Tsafack Jean Pierre,
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WEM director Claus Ullrich retires
After a career of 46 years and almost 35 years of service at EPN member institution WEM (worldwide export management) in Germany, Claus Rudiger Ullrich is planning to retire soon. He looks back positively on the many challenges, successes, travels and all the friends he made along the way. Claus says he will not be roaming about as much anymore but rather watch his four grandchildren grow up. We at EPN wish him all the best in this next phase of his life. 1st Global Forum on Bacterial Infections in New Delhi
The Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy is organizing the 1st Global Forum on Bacterial Infections in New Delhi, India, from October 3rd to 5th 2011. The meeting is intended for researchers to present new data on antibiotic access and resistance, and for policymakers, clinicians, public health programme managers and researchers to debate policy innovations in low- and middle-income countries.
Click on the below links to find out more and register for the forum:
http://www.cddep.org/globalforum
http://www.globalbacteria.org/ MMI Annual report 2010
The Annual Report 2010 of the MMI Network is now available for download at http://bit.ly/mmireport2010. Download the report to learn about the new MMI President and several highlights and events of the past year. The report also includes contributions from some of MMI's newest members, amongst which is Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network. CHAK annual general meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya
From April 12th to 14th 2011, CHAK organized its annual health conference and annual general meeting. The theme of this year’s Conference was “Scaling up quality maternal and child health services in Kenya; the role of the Church health system.” Other activities included the launch of the new CHAK strategic plan 2011-2016 and celebration to mark the 10 year anniversary of the CHAK Times Newsletter. Elisabeth Goffin represented EPN and attended, amongst others, the session by Maua Methodist Hospital on “Community based approaches in scaling up access to maternal and child health services; strategies, challenges and lessons.”
http://www.chak.or.ke/ CHAZ raises awareness on antimicrobial resistance during World Health Day 2011
On April 7th, the whole world celebrated the World Health Day. This year, the theme was antimicrobial resistance. Christian Health Association of Zambia organized a big event to raise awareness about the threat, the causes and ways of combating antimicrobial resistance. In collaboration with EPN, CHAZ distributed many AMR materials during the event. They observed that women were more attracted to the AMR poster than men. The comic strips were extremely popular. In addition, Executive Director Karen Sichinga was interviewed by local TV and newspapers.
http://www.chazhealth.org/
MEDS organizes Infection Control and AMR resistance training
The training, held in Nairobi, started on March 6th and continued until March 26th 2011. The training was organized in 9 groups, with each group trained for one and a half days. The training went well with participants appreciating the relevance of the training content. MEDS also managed to surpass their target of 300 by 82 participants, mostly representatives from hospitals and health centres. Several EPN materials on AMR were displayed and used during the training, amongst which the AMR comic strips, the IC advocacy tool and most recent edition of Pharmalink.
http://www.meds.or.ke/ Summary report of the pooled sampling is now available for members.
In 2009, MEDS (Kenya) in cooperation with Difäm (Germany) started sampling medicines from DSOs as a Network-Project of EPN. In the first 3 rounds of the quality control measures project, 15 of the most commonly used essential medicines were tested. 16 DSOs and partners (EPN members) from 11 African countries sent a total of 140 samples to the quality control lab of MEDS in Kenya.
Log in and go to Resources for members to read more about the project and download the reports. AMR activities in Cameroon
In April 2011, Baptist Hospital Banyo organized continuous education sessions on antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics. The hospital is an institution of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board, Trainer Nshanji Emmanuel Nfor used the fact sheet developed by EPN and rated the training as very successful. The sessions also included drama on some the causes of antibiotic resistance.
http://www.cbchealthservices.org/ St Luke’s Foundation opens Industrial Pharmacy Teaching Unit.
On March 19th 2011, Kilimanjaro School of Pharmacy, an institute under St Luke’s Foundation in Tanzania, inaugurated its new Industrial Pharmacy Teaching Unit. This was considered a historical event since it is a unique training facility for training industrial pharmacy in sub-Saharan Africa. The Training Programme in IPTU is an Advanced Training Programme in Drug Development, Drug Manufacturing, Regulatory & Quality Compliance. The development of this advanced training programme has been a joint effort between Purdue University, USA and Kilimanjaro School of Pharmacy, Tanzania. The training of professionals in Industrial Pharmacy will contribute to the promotion of local pharmaceutical production in Africa and hence improve access to essential medicines.
http://www.saintlukefoundation.co.tz/ ACHA 5th Biennial Conference
From February 20th to 24th 2011, the Africa Christian Health Associations (ACHA) Platform held its 5th Biennial Africa Christian Health Associations Conference in Accra, Ghana. The theme for the Ghana conference was Improving Women’s and Children’s health in Africa; FBO response towards attainment of the MDG targets. Several partners gave presentations on various topics, namely Strategic leadership, Challenges in maternal health, Building partnerships for improved maternal & child health. EPN was invited as an ACHA partner. Elisabeth Goffin, Donna Kusemererwa and James Mireri attended 3 days of the conference and were happy to meet with many EPN members. EPN also gave a presentation on its recent studies on the availability of children’s medicines in 3 African countries. The report is now available on the ACHA website.
http://www.africachap.org/x5/images/stories/fruit/5th%20biennial%20conference%20final%20-%202011.pdf
India workshop on ‘Pharmacy Management in Mission Hospitals’
On February 11th 2011, the Department of Pharmacy, Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, India organized a Workshop on ‘Pharmacy Management in Mission Hospitals’, supported by EPN. Delegates from various mission hospitals in the southern states of India were present. The topics covered included: Management of a Formulary, Inventory Management, Prevention of Dispensing Errors and Handling of High Risk Medication, Stores Management, and Legal Requirements. Dr. Sara Bhattacharji held a special talk on the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network and its role in supporting Medicines Supply and Pharmacies in Mission Hospitals. It is expected that this workshop will lead to networking of pharmacies throughout mission hospitals in order to share experiences and strengthen management systems.
http://www.cmch-vellore.edu/ Back to top Click here to read member stories about 30 years EPN. Read more: |
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