A new resource to help academic institutions, policy-makers, educators, faculty members and students address inequities in pharmaceutical education has been launched by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP).
The FIP toolkit for addressing inequities in pharmaceutical education contains articles, interviews and country case studies from across the six World Health Organisation regions that present these inequities as related to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, resources and education (ie, access to schooling) and how they have been successfully addressed.
“UNESCO’s 2021 Global Education Meeting ‘Paris declaration: A global call for investing in the futures of education’, which is supported by FIP, emphasised the need to tackle the educational crises and inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Recent findings by FIP indicated that inequities exist in pharmaceutical education and these need to be addressed urgently. This new toolkit aims to motivate forward-thinking changes targeted at transforming pharmaceutical education through addressing inequities,” said Prof Ralph J Altiere, Chair of FIP Education.
The new resource contains tools that individuals and institutions can use to assess their inequities status and examine attitudes to the different categories of inequity. It also recommends a number of actions for addressing different types of inequity and offers materials that can be used to raise awareness, drive social change and promote equitable pharmaceutical education.
The development of the toolkit is part of the Federation’s EquityRx programme and works towards FIP Development Goal 10 (Equity and Equality) in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
“Inequities in pharmaceutical education are inextricably linked to social determinants of health and social accountability. The purpose of pharmacy and all health professional education is ultimately to reduce health disparities, improving health for all, yet inequities in pharmaceutical education undercut these goals. Inequities in pharmaceutical education is not an insurmountable problem. It can be fixed, and I encourage colleagues to put this toolkit to use. Expected outcomes when inequities are addressed include increased access to pharmaceutical education and improved teaching and learning,” Prof Altiere added.
