Hello dear IPSFers,Here is your New Year’s present from IPSF. It is with a real pleasure

that I edited this newsletter, edition number 81. I received a lot of

articles for this edition, so I would like to thank the writers. I would also

like to use these few lines to thank once more Miss Ines Harzallah for

the designs and all the Editorial board members for their good job.

Without them, you wouldn’t have such nice publications.This edition is full of news from different IPSF fields. First of all, you

will have the privilege of reading an article from Myriah Lesko,

Manager of Media and Publications for FIP, the International

Pharmaceutical Federation. Then will you find some news from IPSF

on the web, especially the new SEP Database presentation. It is also

with a real pleasure that we received an article from the EPSA team,

the European Association. You will also find some news from the

Public health and the Professional Development portfolios of the

federation. Also EPSF, the Egyptian Federation, did an article to

present their activities, which are really numerous! You can also read

an article from a pharmaceutical student from Indonesia, Estherina,

who received a Development fund to attend the IPSF Congress in

Slovenia, which is really nice. Finally, I wish you all a happy New Year and a reallygood time reading these pages.

Bastien VenotIPSF Chairperson of Medias and Publications

Dear IPSFers,

I am very happy to introduce you the next edition of the 81st IPSF

Newsletter. Without the great job of Bastien Venot, Chairperson of

Media and Publications and the whole editorial board, this great

newsletter would not have seen the light of the World. I would like to

praise all of the people who has contributed to this edition.

In line with this IPSF newsletter topic of ‘What’s Happening?’, let me

briefly introduce to you what the IPSF Executive has been working on

these past few months. Almost five months has already passed since

the election of new Executive and it is with great pleasure to say that

this great and motivated team has already achieved a lot of important

goals. A lot of great ideas were made a reality and I would like to thank

all of the Executive and also members of committees, sub-committees

and all members for their enthusiasm and effort that they put into their

IPSF work to develop IPSF itself. Among other things, the new and

improved SEP database was successfully launched at the end of

November 2010. I would like to thank Melissa Teo, Chairperson of

Student Exchange Programme for her great job. I hope all of you

already had a chance to visit it.

The registration for IPSF’s most important event, the 57th IPSF World

Congress in Hat Yai, Thailand, 3rd to 13th August 2011, is about to start

on 15th January 2011!. I would like to encourage you to register to

attend, taste and experience the true IPSF spirit! For further information,

please visit the Congress website at www.ipsf2011.org or feel free to

contact anyone of us. I hope to meet all of you in Thailand!

I am glad to see that pharmacy is improving its status within the field of

health care across the world. Your continuous activities in your local

association reassures me that the pharmacy profession has a bright

future! We as pharmacy students are the future, so let’s make the future

better together! Who if not us, when if not now?Jan RöderIPSF President

As we hope all IPSFers know, the International

Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is the global federation

of national associations of pharmacists and

pharmaceutical scientists and is in official relations with

the World Health Organization (WHO). Through its 124

Member Organisations FIP represents and serves more

than two million practitioners and scientists around the

world.

In 2001, a Young Pharmacists' Group was launched

within the structure of FIP to help serve this special sector of the membership and to encourage

more young pharmacists to get actively involved in international pharmacy. FIP Members who are

under 35 years of age or who graduated from pharmacy school less than 5 years ago qualify to

participate in the FIP Young Phamacists' Group - you are automatically a member FREE OFCHARGE with your FIP Membership! To join FIP now, visit http://www.fip.org/

The YPG brings together young members of FIP and encourages them to act as a critical andinnovative force. It acts as a member-to-member gateway to FIP activities, creatingopportunities by exchange of information.

YPG welcomes and encourages:Over 400 young pharmacists from 70 different countries

Practioners, scientists, researchers, academics and members from ALL disciplines

Innovative ideas and a professional forum for young people

Active participation in the FIP bodies and projects

Guidance for the new FIP members

Support for innovative projects through the FIP Foundation

A dynamic educational and social programme at the FIP Congress especially for young pharmacists

Facilitated incorporation into an international organisation, easing the transition from pharmacy

student to professional pharmacist involvement

In addition to FIP Individual Member benefits, YPG offers:Discounted registration at the annual FIP Congress, including the special YPG programme

Subscription to the International Pharmacy Journal (IPJ) and YPG publications

Access to the members-only domain on the FIP website

Access to all YPG projects and activities

Eligibility to apply for the YPG Grant for Professional Innovation and other Awards

Voting rights at the annual YPG Assembly and opportunity to stand for elections on the YPG Steering

Committee

Find out more - join the free Discussion Forum!If you would like to find out more about YPG before joining,

we would be pleased to welcome you to the YPG Email

Discussion List, which is open to both members and non-

members of FIP. This will give you the opportunity to learn more

about YPG and hear the views of some of our current

members.

In addition to YPG activities, FIP is constantly moving forward

in its efforts to advance pharmacy practice, science and

education on a world wide level. For example, in March of 2010

FIP launched the FIP Academic Institutional Membership, or

FIP AIM. This Membership that allows Faculties and Schools

of Pharmacy to become inter-connected on a global platform

of discussion, leadership and shared challenges and

successes. The FIP AIM focuses on the parallel evolution of

Faculties and Schools of Pharmacy alongside the ongoing

changes in pharmacy practice, science, research and their

respective funding. All Faculties and Schools of Pharmacy from

around the world are welcome to apply for a FIP AIM. These

Academic Institutes are represented by their Deans, Vice

Deans and other Decision Makers within the Membership

activities such as online discussion platforms and the annual

International Dean’s Forum at the FIP Congress.

If the Dean of your school would like more information on

becoming an AIM Member, please contact Oliver

at oliver@fip.org for more information. Myriah LeskoFIP Manager of Medias and Publications

It is with great pleasure I announce to all IPSF members the launching

of the new SEP Database! The new and improved SEP database was

created and built by Webtown, Hungary, who has done an excellent

job with the website! You can find the database at the same website

address – http://sep.ipsf.org.

To give you a sneak preview, here are some screen snapshots of the

database! Start applying for SEP by creating an account on the

system! The database is full of useful information including information

about each country and association participating in SEP and also a

useful ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for new users.

I hope that you will enjoy the new database as much as I have! Let’s

SEP!

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google are some

of the most used websites by all of us online. You check

what your friends are up to tonight, show them funny

videos or prepare for tomorrow’s exam by using these

sites. As social media gradually becomes the leading

source of information for young people, IPSF got involved

in this field too!

The IPSF fan page on Facebook and Twitter accounts

now reach 17.000 people, and in the future we plan to

expand to other pages too! If you are not a member yet,

don’t hesitate: LIKE! You can interact with friends, discuss

topics of interest and many more on our page at

http://www.facebook.com/International.Pharmaceutical.St

udents.Federation .

See you there!

Melissa TeoIPSF Chairperson of Student Exchange

Bálint TóthIPSF Marketing coordinator

IPSF and EPSA are two associations that share a common root: Not only the mutual

representation of pharmacy students, but also historically since EPSA was formed after the

independence of IPSF’s European Sub-Committee in 1982.

Back then, the European Community was discussing directives on the mutual recognition of

pharmacy degrees and comparing studies between different countries. European pharmacy

students felt the need to meet and brainstorm among them. The urge to make a position on these

matters through a representative association led, in 1978, to the creation of a SubCommittee just

to discuss them: The European SubCommittee (ESC), headed by Ms. Judith Richter from the

Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), was formed.

Four years later, ESC declared independence and since then the relationship between these NGOs

became quite unstable – not everyone agreed with this decision of separation!

Now, almost 35 years later, both EPSA and IPSF have their own identities: While IPSF represents

pharmacy students worldwide, EPSA makes sure the European Pharmacy students’ voice it is

heard by the European institutions and governmental bodies.

However, despite the different path, structure or aim, the focus of both associations is exactly the

same: YOU, the pharmacy student! In order to ensure that your needs and whishes are being

fulfilled, EPSA and IPSF decided to join strengths and collaborate with the aim to present you

great activities and events, joint statements and reliable formation. Since the beginning of the new

IPSF mandate, both NGOs have held different meetings and worked on joint projects:

1. A joint e-group with students that have been active in

both associations was created. The aim is to discuss within

the members how this collaboration should be established,

what kind of joint projects to introduce, what steps to take!

Do you want to take part on it? Contact the IPSF or EPSA

Secretary General!

2. In the next events held by IPSF or EPSA, we will provide

you with joint sessions, which aims to give you the quality

and experience of the members of both associations by

attending just one event. Great, isn’t it?

3. The possibility of having a joint event has also been discussed and more updates will come

soon!

In the end of the year Jan, IPSF President, and Anette, EPSA President, will sign a Memorandum

of Understanding between both associations to ensure that such collaboration will last for many

years.

To sum up, both EPSA and IPSF teams are giving their best to keep a high level of understanding

and collaboration between the organizations – it might not as high as back in the time the “IPSF-

EPSA baby” was born, but the dedication is the same!

Vive la Pharmacie!

Yours in EPSA-IPSF,Mariana FróisEPSA Vice President of Public Relations 2010/2011

Emre Şefik ÇAĞLAR

IPSF European Regional Co-ordinator 2010/2011

HIV/AIDS Awareness Day- Progress to Date

In 1987, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the 1st of

December to be World AIDS Day (WAD), a day where the world raises

awareness towards AIDS & HIV and shows its solidarity with people who

are infected by the virus.

On the 1st of December, 2010, we had the 22nd WAD and, of course,

IPSF has continued to organize and support HIV and AIDS campaigns

worldwide.

There are 33.2 million people living with HIV. Every year, approximately

2.5 million people are newly infected. To raise awareness, the HIV/AIDS

subcommittee has prepared a campaign kit to support our members. The

kit is composed of a number of different publications which include

posters, fact cards, step-by-step campaign booklet, myths & facts cards,

and of course, the IPSF Worldwide WAD Project – the Human Ribbon

Project. So far we have not received any IPSF activity report forms on

World AIDS Day 2010 activities. Contact persons (CPs), please send us

your activity reports as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from

you!

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has been organizing an

HIV/AIDS campaign this year, and a special thanks goes to Sharon, who

has been a great support in organizing the campaign kit. However, my

subcommittee and especially Lina shall not be forgotten. Without you, I

would not have been able to get everything done in time!

AIDS & HIV is not only among us on the 1st of December, but for the

whole year! Thank you and keep up with the campaigning!

Johanna WalzIPSF HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign Coordinator

Fedaa Mahmoud

IPSF Diabetes and Healthy Living

Awareness Campaign Coordinator

Diabetes and healthy living

This is one of the most important concerns in the world of public health. Thenumber of patients newly diagnosed with diabetes continues to increase fromyear to year and the threats of this condition may not be apparent in the initialstages. On November 14th, IPSF and the numerous different organizationsall around the world gave attention to diabetes and healthy living. Targetedaudiences differed from country to country and organization toorganizations; nevertheless, the message was the same: “Bringdiabetes to light”.

Campaigns from around the world aimed to help people by improving their health and changing theirlifestyles. Successes of these campaigns are thanks to the increasing efforts of IPSF members andnumerous volunteer organizations. Their efforts are greatly appreciated.Special thanks to the ones who took part in bringing international awareness to diabetes, for all theones who gave their efforts and hearts into it and for my subcommittee members who had given alltheir energy into the IPSF Diabetes and Healthy Living Awareness Campaign.

Together, IPSF members can make a difference in the world!

Since I was a child, I have always had a dream of traveling to Europe. When I entered university I

was interested in IPSF. By joining the IPSF division in my university’s pharmaceutical students

association, I can improve my English, learn something new, and perhaps attend some international

events. When I became a CP for by university’s pharmaceutical students association, there was a

chance to make by dreams come true by joining the Development Fund Event Grant program. I

applied to attend the 56th IPSF World Congress 2010 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Before the end of the 2nd term for registration I got an email telling me that I was granted a partial

grants to attend the IPSF World Congress 2010. Even though the grant was just a quarter of the

cost to attend, this grant gave me hope. I also got other sponsorships to cover the cost, from my

university, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), my faculty, School of Pharmacy ITB, and a

pharmaceutical company, PT. Kimia Farma.

After about 24 hours of travel from Indonesia, I finally arrived at Ljubljana, Slovenia on August 2nd,

2010. Although I felt really tired, it all disappeared when I met many new friends from other countries

around the world who looked different, spoke different languages, and had different cultures. I know

IPSF stands from International Pharmaceutical Students Federation, but it was my first time to see

the meaning of it since this was my first congress. There were students from Asia, Africa, America,

ME

Australia, and Europe. All continents were complete! IPSF is a really big and important organization.

By joining and participating in IPSF, pharmaceutical students can contribute to improving the healthy

lifestyle and quality of pharmacies and pharmacists in their own country. I also learned more about

IPSF from discussing with other CPs and SEOs from all over the world, attending the General

Assembly, doing a health campaign, and also joining the Poster Exhibition.

In Slovenia, I discovered many different things and unforgettable experiences. I had to eat without

rice and chili everyday; it was totally different from my daily meal. It was amazing for me to still see

a bright sky at 6 p.m., because in Indonesia the sun sets around 6 p.m. every day. The number of

citizens in Slovenia (one country) was the same as my city, Bandung (one city). Therefore Ljubljana

as a capital city wasn’t crowded and there weren’t any traffic jams either. I was happy to stay there

because of how calm it was and also because of the weather. In Indonesia, the weather is so hot

with high humidity in the dry season.

The best place that I visited in Slovenia was Bled, a famous tourism town in Slovenia. We found a

really beautiful lake with mountains around it, and also a castle and a church in the middle of the

lake. Even though my country has many mountains and lakes, this place was really different. There

was also a wine shop and a letter museum. There is just one word to describe it, “wow!”

I thank You, Lord for this trip. Thanks for the opportunity YOU have given me. I also want to say

thank you to every sponsor for their support, to the IPSF Development Fund (DF) for the grant, to

Jenna Carmichael as a DF-Event Grant coordinator and Vesna Terbuc the Coordinator of the

Registration team for helping me to complete administration and to the reception committee for

organizing the best congress ever.

Don’t hesitate to dream something big! If it is God’s will, you will get! IPSF, Vive la Pharmacie!

Estherina Juliana Marbun

HMF ‘Ars Praeparandi’ ITB, Indonesia

EPSF is a Full Member (FM) federation in IPSF. EPSF was founded in 1982 and it now

represents more than 50,000 Egyptian pharmacy students from 23 local associations.

On August 25, 2010, a new Executive Board was elected, president was Mr. Ahmed Hamdy at

the EPSF 20th General Assembly. Seventeen local associations attended, GA was honored by the

attendance of Ms. Marwa Beltagy (IPSF EMRO ChP.) and Mr. Yousef El-Bromboly (EPSF President

2008-09).

2nd and 3rd Leaders In Training: For the first project of the year, we held our 2nd National LIT. We did the 3rd

one a week later as we received 74 applications for all around Egypt. The 2nd

and 3rd LIT were held at the end of September for 3 days. It was given by

International trainers from IPSF. After that, LIT was also held locally in 3

associations: TPSS, ASSPSA, and EPSF-NUB.

Breast Cancer Race for the Cure:The 2nd breast cancer race was held at the Great Pyramids and is considered

the largest breast cancer event in the Middle East. It gave us the chance to put

forth a serious effort to end the disease. EPSF had a delegate of 29 with the

Public Health team, they were full of energy, wore race t-shirts, and ran about

2 Km. The event was organized by the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt and

Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

EPSF 15th Annual National Conference and General Assembly:Held in Mansoura and hosted by SAMPS Local Association with the

participation of more than 180 students from 23 associations. The three day

conference was mostly about smoking and lung cancer.

Presidential, Public Health and Professional

Development workshops were also given to keep local associations updated

with recent projects. The EPSF 21st General Assembly was held over two days,

and three new local associations joined EPSF.

Pneumonia Awareness Campaign: EPSF was a main partner in the first World Pneumonia Day awareness

campaign and celebration in Egypt. EPSF’s role was leading the awareness

campaign, which included malls, universities, clubs,

pediatric hospitals, and schools in more than 25 cities

in Egypt. Our target was children everywhere. EPSF

launched the WPD website in Arabic. A great

celebration was held in a hotel, the campaign covered

by famous national TV channels and newspapers. The Pneumonia Campaign

was considered the largest awareness campaign in Egypt in 2010.

Diabetes Day:TPSS (full member association in EPSF) organized it on the university medical

campus with the participation of 20 students from the Public Health team in

collaboration with students from IFMSA-Egypt and from Tanta Faculty of

Dentistry. The campaign depended on publications provided by EPSF to target

about 2500 people. The main activities were measuring blood sugar, a march,

and drawing blue rings.

Clinical Skills Event:Students from 23 universities participated in the National Clinical Skills Event,

which was held at Mansoura University. The plans and cases were prepared,

the topic was determined, an instructor was called, posters were printed and

evaluation forms were filled out. The three winners of the competition will

represent EPSF at the world CSE in Thailand. The national event was held to

be a model for the local associations to follow.

World AIDS Day Campaign:EPSF organized a great celebration for World AIDS Day 2010 in collaboration

with many national and international health care organizations; it was an event

open to the public and had several youth activities and games for children.

EPSF also distributed publications around the universities for the awareness

campaigns.

Humanitarian project:Blood donating campaigns were organized at universities by ASSPSA, EPSF-Assuit, and local

associations in EPSF, students explained the importance of donation.

Step On The Way 2011 Program:Considered one of the biggest educational programs for pharmacy students,

EPSF recently launched it for the 3rd successive year. This year SOTW is

different, it will be held in four regions to reach students everywhere. It will be

sponsored by more than ten pharmaceutical and business companies and

academic providers and include 18 different sessions. The program will start

in February 2011.

Viva La EPSF! Viva La IPSF! Viva La Pharmacie!

Read more about EPSF and its events and projects at http://www.e-psf.org, and you’re always

welcome to contact and share with us at our Contact Person e-mail cp_epsf@yahoo.com

EPSF official Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/epsf.page

Khaled MostafaIPSF EMRO Icco

It has been almost one year since we have last chatted at the counseling booth (via this column)

and I want to share a lot of news and exciting developments with you.

Reflecting on the past four years that I have been involved in IPSF, the quality and quanitity of

people who are interested in professional development programs such as the Patient Counseling

Event (PCE), Leaders in Training (LIT), Pharmacy Professional Awareness Week (PPAC), and the

Clinical Skills Event (CSE), has steadily grown.

Just to give you an example, the PCE participation rate at the 9th Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical

Symposium had almost 30 participants, which was quadruple over the previous APPS. In addition,

having seen the evaluation and work of each PCE participant from the world congress of Cluj-

Napoca, Romania 2008, Bali, Indonesia 2009, and just recently in August 2010, Ljubljana,

Slovenia, I am astounded at how well each candidate did, as how fierce the competition was

between finalists in their overall performance. In the coming year the professional development

department is looking at readjusting the format of PCE by introducing the case one day prior to

the counseling event. Hopefully this would encourage more to participate by giving them more

time to prepare.

Finally, the highlight of professional development this year is the re-launch of the clinical skills

event (CSE) after a long absence from IPSF. We had almost 20 participants who participated in

the one hour event. For those who are not familiar with the concept, CSE involves clinical based

cases where the candidates must identify and solve drug-related problems. As the world of

pharmacy is moving towards a more clinical approach, CSE is a great opportunity for all future

pharmacists to test and refine their problem solving skills. In addition to the individual case based

format, in the coming year we are also looking into development of a team based event as well. If

all goes well, it will be launched at the next world congress in Thailand 2011.

But just in case you are craving for a chance to put yourself to the test, here is one:You are stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. Fortunately, all the passengers survived.

However, one of the survivors is suffering from palpitations, malaise and muscle weakness. He

tells you that he suffers from hyperkalemia and was taking Kayexalate (sodium polystyrene

sulfonate), which is a cation-exchange resin, but it was lost during the crash. It will be 2-3 days

before search-and-rescue arrives, so you search for medications that other passengers have in

hope that you can find something to help this poor man.

From the search you find:

1) Ramipril 2.5mg capsules

2) Salbutamol 1mg/ml nebules

3) Insulin (normal human insulin)

4) Spironolactone 25mg tablets

5) Atorvastatin 10mg tablets

How would you help this man?

Until next time; Vive la Pharmacie!Eric SoIPSF Chairperson of Professional Development