By Reijo Kärkkäinen, University instructor, Alumnae relations
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki

Pysyvä muutos on mahdollinen.

Generation Green -tiimi hakee ajattelun ja systeemin muutosta. Haluamme kasvattaa uuden sukupolven, joka lähtökohtaisesti sisäistää ympäristövaikutukset lääkkeen koko kehitys- , tuotanto- ja käyttökaaren osalta eli molekyylistä jätteeksi. Tämä uusi ajattelu on mallinnettavissa muille toimialoille kansallisella ja globaalilla tasolla. Tässä ajattelussa otetaan huomioon vertailukelpoinen kehitys sellaisilla toimialoilla kuten esimerkiksi metsäteollisuus, elintarvikkeet, puhdistusaineet ja IT-tuotteet. Continue reading →

by Suvi Sivula, MSc (Pharm) student

Pharmaceutical education prepares students to work in different sectors of the pharmacy field and during various steps of the drug life cycle. If all of the pharmaceutical students gain the same knowledge about Green Pharmacy during their undergraduate studies, it does not matter where they will work later; they already have the green way of thinking when they enter work life so it is not only up to their own or their employers how educated they will be. With acknowledging the issues related to pharmaceuticals, environment, and health, safe acts could be implemented and promoted at workplaces by the new Generation Green. If we want environmental management and sustainable thinking to become a part of our lives as pharmacy professionals, it is time to start working on it.

University students of the present generation are generally well aware of environmental sustainability, but the environmental aspects have not been covered so well in pharmaceutical education.  It feels pretty weird to me that these aspects have come up so late. Continue reading →

by Eeva Teräsalmi
Pharmacy owner, Seitsemän veljeksen apteekki
Vice president, FIP

International Pharmaceutical Federation FIP looks forward to publish its first environmental report “Green pharmacy practice”. This report has been written by a working group consisting of members representing different pharmacy fields from research to practice and education.

The document, “Green Pharmacy Practice – Report for Pharmacists” was prepared by a joint working group of the Board of Pharmacy Practice and Board of Pharmaceutical Science of FIP. The report is intended to inform FIP Member Organizations and individual members of FIP about the environmental issues that surround the medication-use process.

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Kuten monet muutkin tuotteet, myös lääkkeet muodostavat riskin ympäristövaikutuksille. Tämä koskee koko lääkekehityksen ja -hoidon ketjua, lääkkeiden tutkimuksesta ja valmistuksesta niiden myyntiin ja käyttöön, ja jopa jätevedenpuhdistamoihin, joissa lääkeaineiden jäämät ja hajoamistuotteet tulisi saada puhdistettua jätevedestä. Lääkkeillä on kuitenkin erityispiirre siinä, että niiden tulee estää, helpottaa tai parantaa sairauksia,

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Last week, on Tuesday the 20^th of January, the Generation Green team and our idea were presented to the personnel of the Faculty of Pharmacy by our team leader Tiina. In a sense, this presentation was a small yet meaningful step of advance for GG, since it was the first time our idea was communicated to the public in real life. Previous activities had included updating news and online material, as well as being in contact with individual experts of relevant fields, but no public presentations.

Why such a fuss about publicity? Why not just concentrate on refining and actualizing the idea?

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The Generation Green team and the project were initially put together for the Helsinki Challenge science competition, which is part of the celebrities of the 375^th anniversary of the University of Helsinki.

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