IFPW initiates its charitable efforts in Africa with GAVI

Following a years-long evaluation and goal-setting process, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (Manassas, VA) has set up the IFPW Foundation, partnered with GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and selected its first two projects: supporting the training and educational efforts at the Logivac center in Cotonou, Benin, and the East African Community Regional Center of Excellence (EAC RCE) at the campus of the University of Rwanda in Kigali. The initial funding is modest—around $1.5 million over three years—but Mark Parrish, IFPW president, notes that this is the first (and first-of-its-kind) effort by the organization, and that in-kind resources, such as making IFPW member executives available for providing training and support, will be part of the program going forward.

A launch ceremony will be held at the Rwanda campus in late March, and plans are in the works to provide guest lecturers for curriculum development and short courses complementing the college degrees offered by RCE. GSK, AmerisourceBergen, Imperial Life Sciences (a South African healthcare distributor) and Eurapharma, a French healthcare distributor with widespread operations in Africa, will be involved in the initial efforts.

IFPW represents the interests of pharmaceutical wholesalers or their national trade associations across 26 countries, constituting over 40% of the global healthcare-supply market, according to the group.