Chronic respiratory diseases

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common chronic respiratory disease that requires comprehensive care. Community pharmacists and their teams are ideally placed to raise COPD awareness, identify those at risk and be the driving force behind earlier detection and referral to primary care partners for screening, diagnosis and intervention. At this event, the “COPD Pharmacy Toolkit” to support pharmacists in providing a range of COPD pharmacy services was presented. Participants also learned about the new Speak Up for COPD Coalition publication “The Global State of COPD: Driving Change to Tackle a Lung Health Crisis”. The event marked World COPD Day.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common chronic respiratory disease that requires comprehensive care. Pharmacists have a role to play in the prevention, care and management of COPD. This event aims to highlight the key role of the pharmacist in COPD by providing insights into medication optimisation, inhaler technique and patient counselling. Participants will also learn about the COPD Right Care programme, a global social movement initiated by the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) to improve care for people with COPD, and also the Speak Up for COPD campaign, which aims to raise awareness and understanding of COPD among health and policy makers by amplifying the voices of patients, the COPD community and the public.

Moderator:
– Ema Paulino, President National Pharmacy Association (ANF), Portugal

Panellist:
– Tonya Winders, President & acting CEO of the Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP); Chair of Speak Up for COPD, USA
– Siân Williams, Chief Executive Officer, International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG), Registered in Scotland, working internationally
– Darush Attar-Zadeh, Clinical Fellow Respiratory Pharmacist North West London Integrated Care Board, RightBreathe, United Kingdom (England)
– Inês Nunes da Cunha, FIP Practice Development and Transformation Projects Manager FIP, The Netherlands

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are common chronic respiratory diseases (CRD) that affect millions of people worldwide. Pharmacists have a role to play in the prevention, care and management of CRD. FIP will be publishing a new handbook to support pharmacists and their organisations in providing a range of CRD-related services. This will be accompanied by a reference guide which identifies the knowledge and skills that pharmacists require for the provision of such services. Both publications will be launched at this event, and they are part of the FIP Practice Transformation Programme on Non-Communicable Diseases.

Overall Aim:
To support pharmacists to play a proactive role in respiratory management of the health impact of indoor air pollution by helping to address their practice and education needs to enable them provide better patient advice and self-care.

Learning objectives:
• Identify the sources of indoor air pollution and its increasing threat to health
• Understand the short- and long-term impact of indoor air pollution particularly on children
• Understand clinical, pharmacological, and non-pharmacological treatments including self-care measures to minimize the impact of air pollution on respiratory health
• Illustrate how advocacy can impact behavior change to support adoption of better self-care practices aimed at reducing health impact of air pollution.

Moderator:
– Lina Bader, FIP Lead for Equity, sustainability policy and development International Pharmaceutical Federation, Saudi Arabia

Facilitator:
– Nour Eltahla, FIP Projects Coordinator for Equity, sustainability policy and development International Pharmaceutical Federation, Saudi Arabia

Panelists:
– Lidia Morawska, Director International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (WHO CC for Air Quality and Health), Queensland University of Technology, Australia
– Gary WK Wong, Professor and honorary consultant, Department of Paediatrics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
– Tyler Knowlton, Director of Communications, Communities, and Partnerships Plume Labs, France

There is an evolving role for community pharmacists, not only in reactive respiratory illness, but also in supporting proactive individual and community respiratory wellness. However, what needs to change in terms of policy and regulation for these roles to become part of mainstream pharmacy practice? This symposium marks the 2021 United Nations’ International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, by addressing the drivers and barriers for the full deployment of these services, and discuss the key points of the FIP call to action on this global health priority.

Health systems and health care professionals are called upon to address and mitigate the impact of air pollution on people’s health and quality of life. This webinar provides examples of services that pharmacists can deliver to support better breathing.

Asthma affects up to 1 in 10 people globally. Living well with asthma depends on avoiding triggers and using good, safe medicines in the right way at the right time. However, there is currently much sub-optimal use of medicines that can result in waste and harm including avoidable hospital attendances and admissions. Hospital pharmacists can be an important part of the asthma pathway and powerful change agents. This webinar provides updates on major changes in international guidelines that highlight asthma is an inflammatory condition and for safety no-one over 12 should be treated with a short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) alone without inhaled corticosteroids. You can hear from experts from the Asthma Right Care social movement about how to make impactful change happen in the provision of asthma care within secondary care settings.

Asthma affects up to 1 in 10 people globally. Living well with asthma depends on avoiding triggers and using good, safe medicines in the right way at the right time. However, there is currently much sub-optimal use of medicine. Community pharmacy can be an important part of the asthma pathway and powerful change agents. This webinar will update on major changes in international guidelines that highlight asthma is an inflammatory condition and for safety no-one over 12 should be treated with a short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) alone without inhaled corticosteroids. You can hear from community pharmacists in the Asthma Right Care social movement about how to have impactful conversations about personal, national and international change and how to make it happen.

Air pollution needs to be addressed urgently and not only as an environmental and ecological threat, but also as a direct threat to health. This webinar describes the multiple ways in which air pollution can be harmful to health. Understanding such impacts is essential so that professional services and interventions by pharmacists can be developed to address this global threat.

This webinar is the first in a series of 4 webinars exploring the contribution of pharmacists to improving the quality of life of individuals living with asthma and COPD.