Wednesday, September 2, 2026

8:00 AM - 8:45 AM

---

Details

Moderators: Chairs to be confirmed Programme: Overview MOWE-0501 - The expanding leadership role of pharmacists in health care This session focuses on amplifying the patient's voice and highlighting how pharmacists are increasingly leading patient-driven care and meaningful health system transformation. As healthcare systems worldwide shift toward person-centred models, pharmacists are uniquely positioned at the interface between patients, communities, and health systems, enabling them to translate patient needs and lived experiences into practical services, advocacy efforts, and policy-informed actions. The session will present real-world initiatives where pharmacists have successfully embedded patient perspectives into service design, care pathways, and community-based interventions, leading to improved trust, access to care, continuity, and health outcomes. It will explore how pharmacists collaborate with patient organisations, civil society, and multidisciplinary healthcare teams to ensure that patient voices are not only heard, but actively shape decision-making processes at practice, organisational, and system levels. In parallel, the session will address key challenges faced by pharmacists when advancing patient-driven care, including regulatory constraints, workforce readiness, fragmented care models, and sustainability of patient-centred services. By openly discussing these barriers alongside successful strategies, the session aims to provide a balanced and practical perspective relevant to diverse healthcare settings. Participants will gain transferable insights, actionable approaches, and inspiration to strengthen patient engagement within pharmacy practice, elevate the professional role of pharmacists, and foster global collaboration. Ultimately, the session seeks to reinforce the pharmacist’s leadership role in advancing inclusive, responsive, and patient-centred healthcare systems worldwide. MOWE-0502 – Strengthening regulation of complementary and alternative medicine in Lebanon In recent years, the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) market in Lebanon has rapidly increased, partly driven by the influence of medical knowledge on social media. Unfortunately, intense e-campaigns targeted young generations as the main consumers. In parallel, an uncontrollable market through online marketplaces, some gym centers, and food stores has increased, leaving falsified and substandard supplements to penetrate the Lebanese market. Community pharmacists are well positioned to promote the safe and effective use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and to raise awareness about the risks of purchasing unregulated products. Objectives: To describe the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists (OPL) initiatives and efforts, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and other stakeholders, to strengthen regulatory oversight of the CAM market. Methods: A policy and practice analysis was conducted, reviewing national regulatory discussions led by the OPL, existing pharmaceutical governance frameworks, and international recommendations on pharmacists’ roles in responsible self-care and safe product use. Results: There is a need to strengthen CAM regulations and policies in Lebanon. Conclusion: Effective collaboration among different stakeholders is essential for the regulation of CAM and, through pharmacist-led models, represents a strategic public health intervention. Strengthening professional oversight can improve patient safety, enhance health literacy, and align national practices with international standards, promoting responsible self-care and pharmaceutical governance standards, thereby promoting responsible self-care and stronger pharmaceutical governance.

---

Chairs & speakers