The European Pharmacopoeia is a Council of Europe mechanism, based in Strasbourg, that sets the quality and control standards for the pharmaceutical sector. Countries that accede to its convention commit to applying these standards in the manufacture and control of medicines.
For years Albania held only observer status in this body, with no regular representation in its activities: the only country in the European area outside the convention, an institutional neglect that lasted 24 years.
The first concrete steps were taken in 2016 when, after networking with the Albanian diplomatic mission in Strasbourg, a delegation from Albania was invited to the next session of the Pharmacopoeia, a representation that Albanian institutions had lacked for many years. Visits by delegates became more frequent, but at first without a concrete result.
The issue gained public attention in 2017–2018: a social media awareness campaign with the hashtag #DuamFarmakopeSiGjithëEvropa, followed by an official request for information that pharmacy students at the University of Tirana sent to the responsible institutions. The People’s Advocate’s reply to the students’ letter confirmed for the first time that the Ministry of Health had begun the process of ratifying the convention, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Membership required Parliament to adopt a special law ratifying the convention. The Ministry of Health successfully completed the legal process, and in September 2019 Albania became the 39th country to accede to the Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia.
Membership opens the way to quality and safety standards for medicines, bringing Albania ever closer to the European common market. It also opens more avenues for professional growth for Albanian pharmacists and for the country’s entire pharmaceutical sector.
