Making a case for a public health orientation in global pharmacy education and practice in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Pharmacy education and practice have changed from their original narrow product-centered focus to the current patient-centered focus in many countries around the world, albeit to varying degrees. The introduction of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as a framework for promoting global health in the context of development, has made the promotion of population health as important as the clinical care of the individual patient. Health care providers are now called upon to seize the opportunity presented by the individual patient seeking clinical care to reach him, his household, and his community with health promotion and disease prevention information, interventions, and other resources. This calls for a public health-oriented medical education and practice that equips the contemporary medical practitioner to look beyond the individual patient to his community and society. Calls for similar changes in pharmacy education and practice have been made. This article makes a case for a public health orientation and training in pharmacy education and practice to adequately equip pharmacists with the requisite knowledge, skills, and values to contribute toward the achievement of the MDGs and global development beyond 2015.