By Keumoe F Franck Valles and Ntani Nsutebu
Born from the strong will of ambitious youths who aspire to participate in the writing of new pages in the history of the Pharmacy profession in Cameroon, the Cameroon Young Pharmacists (CYP) as the name implies is an association involving a group of young pharmacists from Cameroon with a concept inspired by FIP’s Young Pharmacists Group.
Created more than two years ago, the CYP was made up of about thirty pharmacists at the start, who to this day partake on multisectoral actions to impact the Pharmacy profession in Cameroon through advocacy for improving practice, or by strengthening the proximity of the pharmacist to the community.
To this end, since its inception, the Cameroon Young Pharmacists has been advocating for; a better expression of young leadership, strengthening of hospital pharmacy activities and redefining the role of the hospital pharmacist. It is in line with this commitment that on the side-lines of the celebration of the 2017 edition of the ‘World Pharmacist Day’, CYP organized a symposium on hospital pharmacy with the theme “State of play, challenges and perspectives of hospital pharmacy in Cameroon”. This meeting brought together an impressive audience of pharmacists practicing in hospital as well as other sectors, and representatives from the National Order of Pharmacists in Cameroon. At the end of this meeting, several recommendations aimed at enhancing the value of hospital pharmacy activities were submitted to the supervisory authority and the Ministry of Public Health.
In addition, a year later a CYP MASTER CLASS training workshop on professional legislation was organized for young graduates to prepare them to enter the professional world with greater serenity.
Despite its main difficulty, common to most associations, which is obtaining affiliation as a member association of the FIP, the dynamism and commitment of the young people of CYP pushes them to a relevant path for the construction of a fulfilling profession and serving the needs of the people.
In perspective, and in the days ahead, from the 9th to the 11th of May 2019, the CYP plans to organize the 1st Cameroonian exhibition on Pharmaceutical Education under the theme “Issues and Challenges of Pharmaceutical Education in a Changing Profession”. This will bring together pharmacists, drug companies, institutional and academic partners to discuss the levers to be worked on, so that pharmaceutical education can answer the burning question of successful professional integration and a decent work to serve the community.
At this juncture, join us live from Douala between the 9th and 10th of May !
