SAAHIP Presidential Annual Report 2024/2025

Abstract

I am pleased to present the President’s report to our members for the 2024/2025 term of office. For the pharmacy profession, this period was one that we will remember for many years. It has presented so many opportunities, moments to snapshot and achieve, and engagements that will somewhat buy the future. The year 2024 began with an outcry from hundreds of young pharmacists facing unemployment and closed the same way to usher 2025. The unemployment of pharmacists is a real challenge and requires long-term thinking, collaboration to find fitting solutions, and a realistic mindset. South Africa’s economy, on the one hand, is struggling to grow to the level that is sufficient for all citizens’ needs, and on the other, public health challenges are looming, requiring more pharmacists on the ground to meet the high patient volumes. Taking from some of the discussions from the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) World Congress that took place on 1–4 September 2024 in Cape Town, the new roles that pharmacists can play means the country needs more pharmacists to meet the demand.