EPAL Autumn Conference- The photo gallery is available HERE
Estonian Association of Community Pharmacies Autumn Conference “The Engaging Pharmacy”
September 17, 2025, starting at 10:00
Swissôtel Conference Centre, Tornimäe 3, Tallinn
Moderator: Mart Kuusk
Continuing education credits: 7 academic hours
| Programme | |
| First Session – What is the European Pharmacy Like? | |
| Ly Rootslane, Estonian Association of Community Pharmacies | Modernising the Pharmacy – How Far Have We Come? |
| Clare Fitzell, President of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) | Pharmacy Services in Europe – A Vision for 2040 |
| Kaili Semm, Policy Officer, European Commission | New Medicines Regulation in the European Union |
| Second Session – What Must the Pharmacy Be Prepared For in Today’s World? | |
| Anneli Taal, Director of Integration for Social and Health Policy | Pharmacy as Part of Primary Care – Government Expectations |
| Piret Põiklik, Head of the Medical Devices Department, State Agency of Medicines | Medical Devices in Pharmacies – Current Situation and Future Outlook |
| Taimar Peterkop, Senior Expert in the Field of Cybersecurity at the e-Governance Academy | Cybersecurity in the Pharmacy |
| Third Session – Cooperation in Primary Care – Is It Really Possible? | Panel Discussion |
| Moderators: Ly Rootslane and Mart Kuusk Cooperation opportunities will be discussed by:
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EPAL Autumn Conference 2025: Focus on Cooperation, Digital Solutions and Patient-Centred Pharmacy
On 17 September, the Estonian Association of Pharmacist-Owned Pharmacies (EPAL) held its autumn conference “An Engaging Pharmacy”, bringing together pharmacy and healthcare experts from Estonia and across Europe. The conference focused on developing primary healthcare, improving access to medicines, advancing digitalisation, and strengthening the role of pharmacists within the care team.
European direction: from product-focused pharmacy to patient-centred care
The conference opened with a keynote by EPAL’s President, Ly Rootslane, who emphasised the need for Estonia to move more boldly in developing cooperation models in primary healthcare and in implementing digital solutions. While the number and accessibility of pharmacies in Estonia are generally not a problem, medicine supply disruptions and a lack of information on availability remain significant challenges.
Rootslane highlighted that pharmacists should play a stronger role in therapeutic substitution and patient counselling, while strictly following clinical guidelines and providing evidence-based information. In her view, cooperation between family doctors, nurses, pharmacists and dentists needs more coherent information flows and structured communication in order for the patient to be a fully integrated member of the care team.
Clare Fitzell, President of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU), provided an overview of developments in community pharmacy services across Europe. She noted that many countries, including Ireland, have expanded pharmacists’ responsibilities in areas such as repeat prescribing, vaccination and the management of common health conditions.
Kaili Semm spoke about trends in EU pharmaceutical policy, presenting the renewed pharmaceutical reform whose aim is to ensure better availability, affordability and continuity of supply of medicines (the so-called “AAA objectives”). One of the planned changes is the introduction of electronic package leaflets, alongside more flexible solutions during medicine shortages.
Second session: the pharmacy in today’s world – digitalisation, regulation and cybersecurity
The second session of the conference was opened by Anneli Taal, who underlined the need to integrate pharmacies much more clearly into the primary healthcare system. According to her, Estonia is approximately ten years behind the Nordic countries and several other European states in linking health and social services.
The future of medical devices was outlined by Piret Põiklik from the Estonian Medicines Agency, who described how the market is changing in response to new EU-wide regulations and the creation of a European medical device database. These changes will affect the range of devices available, advertising requirements and data exchange.
The session concluded with a presentation by Taimar Peterkop, who drew attention to the rapidly increasing cybersecurity risks facing healthcare systems. He stressed that, alongside technology, human awareness is the decisive factor in security – password managers, two-factor authentication and regular training form the foundation of the new security environment.
Panel discussion: is cooperation in primary care really possible?
The day ended with a panel discussion titled “Cooperation in Primary Care – Is It Really Possible?”. The panel brought together family doctors, nurses, pharmacists, emergency medicine specialists and dentists. Participants agreed that the main systemic problems do not arise from the number or location of pharmacies, but from poor information exchange, medicine supply disruptions and fragmented services.
The panellists noted that solutions such as the extension of e-prescriptions, therapeutic substitution by pharmacists, shared digital platforms and continuous collaboration with patients already exist and are being implemented in several European countries. The conclusion was clear: it is now time to take these steps in Estonia as well.
The way forward: patient-centred and cooperation-driven healthcare
The conference reaffirmed that pharmacies are an essential part of primary healthcare and that their role in Estonia is set to grow. Willingness to cooperate, the development of shared digital platforms and active patient involvement will be the key themes of the next decade.
EPAL warmly thanks all speakers, participants and partners for their contributions.
We look forward to meeting again at the next autumn conference – and until then, we will continue working together to advance patient-centred, evidence-based and modern pharmacy services in Estonia.