Throughout the conference, Delegates heard from experts across several fields who addressed key issues concerning community pharmacy. Issues discussed were artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, the future of the pharmacy workforce, drug shortage mitigation, and the importance of securing sustainable funding models for community pharmacies to ensure patient accessibility to medicines and pharmacy services.

As a member of the Associate Expert Group of Business at OECD (BIAC), the WPC has continued advocating for community pharmacy’s vital role in building more resilient, productive, and person-centred healthcare systems. The WPC’s continued engagement has already led to increased visibility of community pharmacy through recognition in OECD reports that help inform global health policy.

Reflecting on the discourse at Pharmintercom 2025, the Delegates reviewed and discussed future priorities of the organisation, which featured data collection and analysis across member countries. This data will inform areas of focus for the WPC moving forward and can be used by member countries to guide improvements in medication accessibility, workforce strength and technological integration.

Pharmintercom 2026 will be held in Berlin, Germany from June 15^th to 19^th next year.

The World Pharmacy Council (WPC) held its annual Pharmintercom conference in Singapore May 26-29, 2025. Delegates from 13 member organisations, affiliate members, and guest representatives from the Association of Finnish Pharmacies (AFP) and the Japan Pharmaceutical Association (JPA) were in attendance. This year’s meeting theme was Innovating and Advocating for Person-Centred Pharmacy, highlighting the need for innovative solutions as community pharmacies continue to balance financial pressures with the expansion of patient care roles and technological integration in a time of geopolitical uncertainty.

“Community pharmacists are focused on people rather than the things we do,” said WPC President, Douglas Hoey. “That is an important distinction as community pharmacists play even more important roles in offering solutions to governments to societal issues like medication shortages, filling primary care gaps in collaboration with other providers, and fortifying our role as a ‘source of truth’ in an age where reliable, trustworthy information can be elusive.”