Last week, Barcelona hosted Infarma 2017, the 29th European Pharmacy Congress. This event is organised annually, alternating between Barcelona and Madrid, by their respective national pharmacy councils. Under the slogan ‘Value for the pharmacy. Value for the patient‘From Tuesday 21st to Thursday 23rd, more than 30,000 visitors and members of the pharmaceutical sector gathered at the Fira de Barcelona to attend the Pharmacy Congress and the Medicines and Parapharmacy Exhibition.’.
Infarma 2017 has been a resounding success. And it is not just the number of visitors that has increased. On the one hand, the exhibition space for exhibitors has increased by 30% to 39,000 m², and the number of exhibitors has risen to 486. Furthermore, there has been a higher number of scientific poster presentations – almost 130 – the number of conference attendees has exceeded that of previous editions – more than 2,800 – and a programme featuring up to 50 panel discussions has been offered, in which more than 200 speakers took part.
From the Gabinete Técnico Farmacéutico M. Camps, we would like to congratulate the Barcelona College of Pharmacists (COF) on the success of this year’s event. We would also like to encourage both colleges of pharmacists to continue achieving positive results at every event and to forge links within the sector.
GTF at the Infarma 2017 Pharmacy Congress
The technical team GTF, led by its director, Mercè Camps, has played an active role in organising the event. We have also played an active part in several of the activities that have taken place at the Pharmacy Congress throughout the week.
Conference chairing
On Tuesday 21st between 6pm and 7pm, the director of GTF, Mercè Camps, acted as presenter and moderator in the hall Exponews, from the lecture “The ABCs of hair care at your chemist’s, by the Dercos Institute”. The panel included Vichy’s head of training, Mercedes Abarquero. The gynaecologist at Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Antonio Fernández. The dermatologist at the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid and lecturer at the Complutense University Elena González. Nieves Murillo, a pharmacist at Farmacia Boulevard in Madrid. And Nuria Ruiz, a specialist in family and community medicine.
Speaker at the Saludbox launch
On Wednesday 22nd, Mercè Camps took part as a speaker at the presentation of Saludbox, a food supplement start-up, in her capacity as a regulatory affairs specialist. Joining her on the panel was the member responsible for Food and Nutrition at the Official College of Pharmacists of the Balearic Islands, Josep Antoni Tur, who acted as moderator. The technical director of Saludbox, Joaquín Tejero, who explained the new products and spoke about the sublingual route. And Maria José Alonso, a specialist in industrial and galenic pharmacy, who has provided information on the properties of the ingredients used in Saludbox supplements in her capacity as an expert in phytotherapy.
Finally, the entire GTF technical team attended the conference “Eco, Organic and Natural Cosmetics: Consumer Purchasing Criteria”. The speakers were the Technical Director of STANPA, Carmen Esteban. The Member responsible for Dermatopharmacy at the Madrid Branch of the COF, Rosalía Gozalo. And the senior lecturer and director of the specialisation course in Dermopharmaceutical Cosmetics at the University of Seville, María Jesús Lucero.