The density of pharmacists will now be taken into account in measuring the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”.

One of the targets under this goal is to “substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing states” and has health worker density and distribution as its sole indicator .

Previously this indicator only included physicians, nurses and midwives. “Thanks to the advocacy work of FIP, all governments will now be asked to report on the density of their pharmacists, which will facilitate the inclusion of pharmacists in any governmental plan for human resources for health,” said FIP CEO Luc Besançon. “This is great news, because it clearly signals that pharmacists are part of the core health care professions, and need to be taken into account,” he added.