Healthcare | Monday 9 March, 2015 1:17 pm |

The 20th Edition of DUPHAT Conference and Exhibition continued in its second day at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre with a large number of local and international participants including pharmacists, drug manufacturers and suppliers who came to learn about the latest updates in the pharmaceutical industry. Speakers at DUPHAT came from different parts of the world with diverse cultures and backgrounds, which enhanced the participants’ experience and enriched their knowledge.

About the importance of the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ali Al Sayed, Chairman of DUPHAT Conference and Exhibition said: “Pharmacy is considered the most trusted profession and therefore it is very important to maintain high standards of professionalism, competency and humanistic approach in our day-to-day responsibilities as pharmacists and that is what we are trying to highlight during our conference. In addition to that, we will try to concentrate on the newly introduced medicines that are more expensive compared to other medicines and are proposing a challenge to healthcare organizations. Therefore, healthcare budgets require greater implementation of pharmacoeconomic analysis, tools and models by pharmacists in order to streamline healthcare and maintain high quality standards.”

Dr. Ali Al Sayed added: “One of the conference sessions will concentrate on an important goal we are working on which is to expand pharmacy services through various initiatives such as expanding pharmacist’s roles across the continuum of care, optimizing the use of technology, implementation of smart technology, and upgrading pharmacist knowledge, skills, confidence and competency.”

From his side, Professor Ibrahim Al Sarra, President of Saudi Pharmaceutical Society, and one of the prominent speakers at the conference, said: “We discussed during the conference today one of the widespread diseases which is Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. The session explored what alternative treatments options are present, how the disease is spread in the region, and what are the other major complications regarding kidney transplant.”

Professor Ibrahim Al Sarra declared that unfortunately 25% of the population in the Middle East
are infected with Hepatitis C, and he stated that it is of great importance to set and unify guidelines for major treatment plans and increase awareness campaigns for such kind of diseases, as awareness is one of the key points to decrease the spread of the disease.

Every year, DUPHAT witnesses great support from a number of distinguished local and international pharmaceutical organizations and associations that include but are not limited to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences (EUFEPS), The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA), Canadian Pharamcists Association (CPhA), International Society for Pharmacopidemiology, International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxology (IATDMCT), European Society of Oncology Pharmacy (ESOP), and Saudi Pharmaceutical Society (SPS).

About his participation in DUPHAT, Mr. Paul Abramowitz, Chief Executive Officer at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) said: “I would like to congratulate DUPHAT Committee for the stellar success of the conference and the exhibition. DUPHAT provides a great opportunity to thousands of pharmacists from around the world to network, share information, and ultimately facilitate change.”

From his side, Professor Ibrahim Al Sarra added: “I would like to express my appreciation for all participants of this conference as it is due to their keen interest and contributions that the pharmacy profession continues to evolve and become an integral part of any healthcare strategy.”

The scientific program for DUPHAT this year featured a number of specialized scientific sessions, workshops and several scientific posters presented by specialists in the pharmaceutical field, college students, and school students. Several universities are taking part in DUPHAT 2015, in support of future pharmacists. Universities such as Al Ain University, Ajman University, Qatar University, Manchester University, and Colorado University, and participated in DUPHAT Exhibition this year. In addition to that, participants from Dubai University, Sharjah University, Al Qassim University in KSA, RAK University, Higher Colleges Technology, King Fahad University, Misr International University Egypt, and many others also took part in the conference to exchange their knowledge and spectrum in this field.

DUPHAT conference and exhibition is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of the Dubai Health Authority, and it is organized yearly by INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions Organization Est. – member of INDEX Holding with the support of a number of local and international organizations. DUPHAT is considered one of the largest events dedicated to the pharmaceutical field and related technologies, as it is approved and accredited by the Ministry of Health in the UAE, in addition to a number of international scientific organizations specialized in this field.