FIP Calls for Stronger Pharmacist Role in Patient and Medication Safety

The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has called for greater recognition and support of pharmacists as key contributors to patient and medication safety, with recommendations covering pharmacy practice, health policy, workforce planning, education, technology and medicines management.

The call is contained in FIP's 2026 Statement of Policy and Call to Action: The Role of Pharmacists in Promoting Patient and Medication Safety, adopted by the FIP Board on 30 August 2026.

The statement replaces FIP's 2020 statement on the role of pharmacists in promoting patient safety and provides recommendations for governments, policymakers, health-system funders, professional pharmacy organisations, pharmacists, academic institutions and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Medication Safety Identified as a Major Patient-Safety Priority

FIP describes medication safety as a major component of patient safety, covering the prevention of medication errors and medication-related harm and the optimisation of medicine use throughout the patient's medication journey, particularly during transitions of care.

The federation cites a 2024 World Health Organization systematic review estimating that half of all avoidable harm in medical care is medication-related, while 25% of medication-related harm is severe or life-threatening. The review also estimated that one in 20 patients experience preventable medication-related side effects, with the proportion rising to 7% in developing countries.

Against this background, FIP identifies pharmacists as healthcare professionals with specialised knowledge of medicines and highlights their role in preventing harm, identifying risks and intervening at critical points in the medication-use process.

FIP Calls for Pharmacists to Operate at Full Scope

The policy statement calls on governments and policymakers to establish scopes of practice that enable pharmacists to operate at their full scope and support consistent delivery of standardised pharmacy services across healthcare settings.

It also calls for pharmacy workforce planning to be incorporated into health-system planning so that pharmacy teams are adequately resourced and safe staffing levels can be achieved.

FIP further recommends that medication-safety considerations be incorporated into procurement and reimbursement decisions, including issues such as medicine labelling, packaging, usability, supply continuity and risk-minimisation measures.

Stronger Reporting and Learning Systems

The statement places emphasis on developing non-punitive systems for reporting medication errors and medication-related harm.

FIP calls for systems that allow safety events to be reported, monitored, analysed and shared so that healthcare organisations and professionals can learn from errors rather than simply assign blame.

The federation also encourages pharmacists to implement systems for recording and sharing patient-safety incidents and near misses, while ensuring that patient information is handled in accordance with data-protection requirements.

Digital Health and AI Require Professional Oversight

FIP also addresses the growing use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in medication safety.

The statement notes that technologies such as electronic prescribing, shared medication records and clinical decision-support systems can reduce medication-related risks but can also introduce new risks when they are poorly designed, implemented or used.

FIP therefore calls for AI-enabled medication-safety tools to remain subject to human professional oversight, transparency standards, bias-mitigation measures and ongoing post-implementation evaluation.

The statement also supports the responsible adoption of electronic prescribing, telepharmacy, remote monitoring, digital verification systems and validated AI-driven clinical decision-support tools, alongside appropriate standards to strengthen medication safety.

Pharmacists' Role in Medicines Management

For pharmacists themselves, FIP outlines a broad set of responsibilities across medication safety.

These include developing and implementing medication-safety policies and procedures, reporting and analysing medication-related incidents and near misses, supporting medicine access during shortages, using technology to reduce medication errors and strengthening standardised pharmaceutical care services.

The statement also calls for sustainable funding for pharmacist-led medication-safety services, including medicines reconciliation, medication review, high-risk medicines management, pharmacovigilance, deprescribing, transitions-of-care support and patient education.

FIP further calls on pharmacists to promote responsible medicine use, support appropriate disposal of expired or discontinued medicines and pharmaceutical waste, and strengthen pharmacovigilance through the detection, documentation and reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions and adverse drug events.

Patient Safety Extends Beyond Hospitals

The policy also places patient safety within community pharmacy and other healthcare settings.

FIP calls on health-system funders to extend patient-safety frameworks beyond hospitals to include community pharmacies, where pharmacists remain highly accessible healthcare professionals. It also recommends regulated medication-safety reporting systems based on a just culture.

Professional pharmacy organisations are encouraged to develop and regularly update patient-safety standards covering areas such as transitions of care, high-risk medicines and polypharmacy.

Education and Continuous Professional Development

FIP also calls for patient safety and medication safety to be embedded in pharmacy education and continuing professional development.

The statement recommends patient-safety training for pharmacists and pharmacy workforce members, integration of medication-safety competencies across healthcare education, and continuing education that enables pharmacists to lead, implement and evaluate patient-safety initiatives.

Academic institutions are similarly encouraged to ensure that prevention of medication-related harm forms part of pharmacy curricula, promote interprofessional learning and support medication-safety research.

A Broader Role for Pharmacists in Health-System Safety

The new FIP statement places medication safety within a broader health-system framework rather than treating medication errors solely as individual professional failures.

Its recommendations address workforce capacity, reporting systems, supply-chain resilience, technology governance, patient empowerment, professional education, pharmacovigilance and collaboration among healthcare professionals.

For pharmacists, the policy reinforces a role that extends from the safe use of individual medicines to participation in wider systems designed to prevent avoidable patient harm.

The statement also calls for pharmacists to engage patients and carers as equal partners in healthcare decisions and to use professional and digital platforms to promote accurate, evidence-based medication-safety information.

FIP has committed to continuing global advocacy for medication and patient safety, supporting pharmacy organisations in developing national policies and standards, promoting patient-safety training and keeping medication safety on the agenda of health and professional organisations.

The 2026 statement provides a global policy framework for strengthening the contribution of pharmacists to safer medication use and reducing preventable harm across the healthcare system.