Task Shifting and Sharing the National Policy Framework

Plenary Session 1

Sunday, 11 October 2026
Venue: Hall 1AB, 2AB
Tine 10h00 – 11h00

Chair: Mr Mogologolo D Phasha

Introduction

South Africa’s healthcare system continues to face significant challenges, including workforce shortages, increasing service demands, the growing burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and inequities in access to healthcare services. These challenges require innovative and sustainable approaches to healthcare delivery.

Task shifting and task sharing have emerged globally as effective strategies to optimise the health workforce, improve access to care, strengthen service delivery and support Universal Health Coverage (UHC). By redistributing selected healthcare responsibilities among appropriately trained health professionals, healthcare systems can become more responsive, efficient and patient-centred.

The National Policy Framework on Task Shifting and Sharing provides a structured approach to enabling collaborative healthcare delivery while maintaining quality, safety, accountability and professional standards. For the pharmacy profession, task shifting and sharing present opportunities to expand pharmaceutical services, improve access to medicines, support primary healthcare and strengthen multidisciplinary team-based care.

This plenary session will explore the policy landscape, practical implementation considerations, international experiences, and the evolving role of pharmacists in task-shifting and task-sharing models. Speakers will reflect on how regulatory frameworks, education and training, leadership, and interprofessional collaboration can support successful implementation and enhance healthcare outcomes for all South Africans.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

  • Understand the principles and objectives of the National Policy Framework on Task Shifting and Sharing.
  • Describe the role of task shifting and task sharing in strengthening healthcare systems and improving healthcare access.
  • Identify opportunities for pharmacists to contribute more effectively within collaborative, multidisciplinary care models.
  • Explore policy, regulatory, educational and practice considerations required for successful implementation.
  • Reflect on global and local experiences to inform future workforce transformation in South Africa.

Key Takeaways for Delegates

  • Task-shifting and task-sharing are important tools for strengthening healthcare delivery and addressing workforce challenges.
  • Effective implementation requires strong governance, clear accountability, appropriate training and regulatory support.
  • Pharmacists have significant opportunities to contribute to expanded healthcare services and patient-centred care.
  • Collaborative practice models can improve access, efficiency and health outcomes across healthcare settings.
  • Future healthcare systems will increasingly rely on integrated teams to meet evolving population health needs.

“The future of healthcare cannot be built by any single profession working in isolation. Task shifting and sharing challenge us to reimagine healthcare delivery, embrace collaboration and place patients at the centre of care. By working together, supported by strong policy, education, and regulation, we can build a resilient and equitable healthcare system that meet South Africa’s health needs today and in the future.”

Pharmacy Preparedness for Disaster -100 Days of Readiness

Plenary Session 2

Monday, 12 October 2026
Venue: Hall 1AB, 2AB
Time: 09h00 – 10h15

Chair: Ms Mavis Shivambu

Introduction

Natural disasters, disease outbreaks, humanitarian emergencies, medicine shortages and climate-related events continue to test the resilience of healthcare systems globally. Across community, hospital, manufacturing, wholesale, regulatory and public-sector practice, pharmacists play a critical role in maintaining access to medicines, safeguarding supply chains and supporting public health responses during emergencies.

This plenary session will explore how the pharmacy profession can strengthen preparedness, responsiveness, and resilience during the first hundred (100) days of a disaster or public health emergency. Drawing on local and global perspectives, the discussion will explore leadership, workforce readiness, regulatory agility, medicine security, supply chain continuity and cross-sector collaboration. Delegates will gain insights into how pharmacists can contribute to health system readiness, emergency response and recovery while ensuring equitable access to essential medicines and healthcare services.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists across healthcare sectors in disaster preparedness, emergency response and recovery.
  • Identify strategies to strengthen medicine security, workforce readiness and supply-chain resilience during healthcare crises.
  • Examine the importance of regulatory agility, collaboration and coordinated decision-making in enabling timely access to medicines and healthcare services.
  • Explore practical approaches to enhancing health system preparedness and resilience during the first hundred (100) days of a public health emergency or disaster.

Key Takeaways for Delegates

  • Pharmacists across the community, hospital, manufacturing, wholesale and regulatory sectors play a vital role in disaster preparedness and response.
  • Effective emergency management depends on resilient medicine supply chains, workforce readiness and coordinated action across the pharmaceutical value chain.
  • Regulatory agility and strong partnerships can accelerate access to medicines, vaccines and other critical health technologies in crises.
  • Lessons from previous emergencies can strengthen preparedness planning, risk mitigation and operational readiness.
  • Pharmacy leadership is critical to ensuring equitable access to medicines and sustaining healthcare services during periods of disruption.

“Preparedness is not built during a crisis; it is built before one occurs. The first hundred (100) days of any disaster can determine how effectively a healthcare system protects its communities. Through leadership, collaboration, and readiness, pharmacists can help ensure that healthcare remains accessible, responsive, and resilient when it is needed most.”

Digital Healthcare:AI-Human-led and Technology Enabled

Plenary Session 3

Monday 12 October 2026
Venue: Hall 1AB, 2AB
Time: 16h15 – 17h30

Chair: Ms Bonolo Teki

Session overview

Digital technologies are transforming every sector of pharmacy, from community and hospital practice to manufacturing, distribution and patient care. Electronic prescribing, automation, robotics, digital therapeutics, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and connected health systems are creating new opportunities to improve patient outcomes, operational efficiency and medication safety. However, technology alone cannot achieve meaningful healthcare transformation without professional oversight, ethical governance and human-centred decision-making.

This plenary session will explore current digital innovations and technologies being implemented across the pharmaceutical sector and their impact on healthcare delivery.

The session will conclude with a thought-provoking presentation on how artificial intelligence, digital health, and emerging technologies may fundamentally reshape healthcare and pharmacy practice, prompting pharmacists to reflect on their evolving roles, embrace new opportunities, and reimagine their future contributions to patient care in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the current and emerging digital technologies transforming pharmacy practice across community, hospital, manufacturing and other healthcare settings.
  • Evaluate the opportunities and risks associated with artificial intelligence, automation, and digital health technologies across pharmaceutical care and healthcare delivery.
  • Examine the evolving role of pharmacists in a technology-enabled healthcare environment and identify the skills required for future practice.
  • Explore strategies to ensure that innovation is implemented responsibly through ethical governance, human-centred decision-making and patient-focused care.

Key Takeaways for Delegates

  • Digital transformation is reshaping every stage of the healthcare and pharmaceutical value chain, from medicine development and manufacturing to prescribing, dispensing and patient monitoring.
  • Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies have the potential to improve efficiency, safety, access and patient outcomes, but they require appropriate oversight and governance.
  • Pharmacists who embrace digital innovation, lifelong learning and new models of care will be best placed to remain relevant and create value in future healthcare systems.
  • The greatest opportunities will arise from collaboration among healthcare professionals, technology developers, industry, regulators and patients.

Stewardship for medicines that are prone to abuse or misuse

Plenary Session 4

Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Time: 09h30 – 11h00
Venue: Hall 1AB, 2AB

Chair: Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela

Introduction

As healthcare needs evolve, pharmacists are increasingly confronted with complex therapeutic areas where balancing patient access, clinical benefit and responsible medicine use is critical. Medicines used in pain management, weight management and cannabis-based therapies offer significant therapeutic value but also pose challenges related to misuse, abuse, inappropriate prescribing, patient expectations and long-term outcomes.

This session brings together experts to explore current developments, emerging trends and practical considerations in medicines stewardship. Through focused discussions on cannabis, codeine, pain management and weight-management therapies, the session will examine how pharmacists can support the safe, evidence-based and patient-centred use of these therapies to improve health outcomes.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Discuss current developments and challenges in cannabis, codeine, pain management and weight-management therapies.
  • Define the pharmacist’s responsibility for encouraging the safe, evidence-based, and responsible use of these medicines and therapies.
  • Explore practical approaches to balancing patient access, therapeutic benefit and stewardship of medicines.

Key Takeaways for Delegates

  • Pharmacists play a critical role in ensuring the safe and appropriate use of medicines that have the potential for misuse.
  • Patient-centred counselling and education remain fundamental to the stewardship of medicines.
  • Evidence-based decision-making supports optimal therapeutic outcomes while minimising harm.
  • Effective stewardship requires collaboration among pharmacists, prescribers, regulators and patients.
  • Emerging therapies offer pharmacists new opportunities to improve patient care and achieve better health outcomes.

“As medicines and therapies continue to evolve, so too must our commitment to responsible stewardship. By combining scientific evidence, professional judgement and patient-centred care, pharmacists can help ensure that medicines are used safely, appropriately and effectively to improve the health and wellbeing of all South Africans.”

Universal Health Coverage

Plenary Session 5

Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Venue: Hall 1AB, 2AB
Time: 11h45 – 13h00

Chair: Ms Khadija Jamaloodien

Introduction

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has emerged as a key global strategy for advancing healthcare equity. However, achieving UHC requires more than expanding healthcare services; it demands a coordinated, sustainable approach that ensures equitable access to safe, effective, high-quality and affordable medicines for all.

To achieve this goal, every component of the pharmaceutical value chain, from research and development through to pricing, reimbursement, procurement, distribution and patient access, must operate effectively. Pharmacists and pharmacies play a critical role in translating policy into practice by ensuring the availability, accessibility and appropriate use of essential medicines within communities.

This session will explore practical approaches to implementing UHC in South Africa, the role of pharmacies in promoting equitable access to essential medicines, and the influence pricing and reimbursement policies on access across the pharmaceutical value chain. Delegates will gain insights into the opportunities, challenges and collaborative actions required to advance equitable, sustainable and patient-centred healthcare under UHC.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Identify opportunities and challenges for pharmacists across the community, hospital, wholesale, manufacturing and academic sectors in supporting UHC implementation.
  • Evaluate the policy, regulatory, workforce and supply chain considerations required to achieve sustainable access to medicines under UHC.
  • Examine the role of the pharmaceutical value chain in ensuring equitable, sustainable and timely access to essential medicines.

Key Takeaways for Delegates

  • Collaboration among government, healthcare professionals, academia, industry, wholesalers, regulators and patient groups is necessary to achieve UHC goals.
  • Sustainable pricing, reimbursement and procurement mechanisms are critical to balancing affordability, innovation and the long-term availability of medicines.
  • Access to essential medicines is a cornerstone of Universal Health Coverage and a prerequisite for health equity.
  • Reliable supply chains, efficient regulatory systems and robust medicine information systems are essential to ensuring continuity of care.
  • Successful UHC implementation depends on a robust and sustainable pharmaceutical value chain, from research and development to patient access.

“Universal Health Coverage is ultimately about people. It is about ensuring that everyone has access to the healthcare services and medicines they need, when they need them, without financial hardship. Achieving this vision requires strong partnerships across the entire pharmaceutical value chain, with pharmacists playing a central role in ensuring that no patient is left behind.”

Road To 2050

Plenary Session 6

Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Venue: Hall 1AB, 2AB
Time: 14h30 – 16h00

Chair: Mr Vusi Dlamini

Introduction

As healthcare systems evolve and population health needs become increasingly complex, the pharmacy profession must continue to adapt, innovate and lead. Looking towards 2050, pharmacists will play an even greater role in disease prevention, health promotion, vaccination services, patient empowerment and in strengthening public health outcomes.

This session explores how pharmacists can help build healthier communities through preventive healthcare interventions, public health advocacy and professional empowerment. Through discussions on immunisation across the life course, the impact of Pharmacy Month initiatives, and strategies to develop a future-ready pharmacy workforce, the session will highlight the profession’s contribution to a healthier, more resilient future.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Recognise the role of pharmacists in advancing preventive healthcare and improving population health outcomes.
  • Explore the value of public health interventions and community engagement initiatives in promoting healthier communities.
  • Identify opportunities to empower pharmacists to meet future healthcare needs and contribute to health system transformation.

Key Takeaways for Delegates

  • Prevention and health promotion will be central to improving health outcomes.
  • Pharmacists are uniquely placed to support vaccination programmes and public health initiatives.
  • Community-based interventions can make a meaningful contribution to disease prevention and to health awareness.
  • Empowering pharmacists through education, leadership and innovation is essential to the future of healthcare delivery.
  • The pharmacy profession plays a critical role in building healthier, more resilient communities on the road to 2050.

“The road to 2050 begins with the actions we take today. By embracing prevention, promoting public health, and empowering pharmacists to lead change, we can help build a future where healthier communities, equitable healthcare, and improved quality of life are a reality for all. The future of healthcare is not something we wait for; it is something we create together.”