To mark World Pharmacists’ Day, celebrated every 25 September, SIGRE wishes to recognise the work of pharmaceutical professionals and their contribution, across their various fields of activity, to safeguarding people’s health and the environment.

The pharmaceutical profession is involved in many stages of the medicines lifecycle: from research and development, through production and distribution, to dispensing and use, as well as in areas such as hospital pharmacy, clinical analysis, public health, public administration, teaching and research. In all these areas, pharmacists contribute their knowledge and expertise to improve the health and quality of life of the population.

In addition to this important role in healthcare, they are also committed to protecting the environment. The application of eco-design criteria to packaging, the optimisation of production and logistics processes, the promotion of the proper use of medicines, and raising awareness about the correct management of pharmaceutical waste are just some examples of how the pharmaceutical profession helps to reduce the environmental footprint associated with medicines. This vision is in line with the One Health approach, which recognises the close relationship between human health and the health of the planet

25 years of collaboration across the entire pharmaceutical sector

This year, World Pharmacists’ Day also holds special significance for SIGRE, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary as the pharmaceutical sector’s largest environmental alliance. Over the past quarter of a century, collaboration between the pharmaceutical industry, distributors and pharmacies has helped to consolidate a model that addresses the various stages of a medicine’s life cycle to reduce its environmental impact.

In this model, the pharmaceutical industry plays a key role by incorporating prevention and eco-design measures that enable progress towards increasingly sustainable packaging. Pharmaceutical distributors, for their part, integrate the collection of waste deposited by the public at SIGRE collection points into their own logistics operations, thereby helping to ensure its control and traceability and to reduce the environmental impact associated with its transport.

Pharmacies and their professionals complete this collaborative chain by making SIGRE collection points available to the public and carrying out important work in providing information and raising awareness to promote both the responsible use of medicines and the correct management of their waste once treatment has finished.

In this way, the involvement of pharmaceutical professionals across their various fields of activity enables the sustainability of medicines to be addressed from a holistic perspective: from the design of packaging with a lower environmental impact to the proper management of waste generated at the end of a medicine’s useful life.

To mark this occasion, SIGRE extends its congratulations and thanks to all pharmaceutical professionals, recognising not only their essential contribution to healthcare, but also their commitment to protecting the environment.

As Miguel Vega, SIGRE’s Director-General, points out, “SIGRE joins in congratulating all pharmaceutical professionals, recognising and highlighting not only their contribution to people’s healthcare, but also to the protection of the environment”.

A contribution which, after 25 years of collaboration, remains essential for tackling new health and environmental challenges and moving towards an increasingly sustainable pharmaceutical sector, in which people’s healthcare and the protection of the planet form part of a single commitment.