Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) held its inaugural international-themed webinar entitled Pharmacy Perspectives on COVID-19 Vaccination from the 31st March to 1st April 2021.
Spearheaded by Dr Mathumalar Loganathan, the programme brought the industry and learning institutions together to discuss and share matters surrounding vaccination from Malaysia and the United Kingdom perspectives and the status of infection, prevention control, and vaccination in Thailand and Indonesia.
Given the concern around the increasing number of COVID-19 infection cases globally and the apprehension towards vaccination and its side effects, this webinar was timely and of significant importance to pharmaceutical industries and academia.
Over 700 participants attended the webinar involving Pharmaniaga Berhad (local pharmaceutical company), the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) Malaysia, Boots Pharmacy (UK-based community pharmacist) and two ASEAN education institutions Mahidol University, Thailand and Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia.
The seminar is also one of the activities planned as part of the memorandum of understanding UiTM has with the two education institutions mentioned above.
The virtual seminar served as an excellent platform for sharing knowledge and expertise on the current vaccination-related health policies and its challenges to increase vaccination uptake by the public. The web-based sessions were made interactive and engaging for teaching and learning purposes.
Post-graduate students attending the webinar were introduced to aspects relating to policies, management, operationalisation and sustainability of vaccine-related services and disciplines, including manufacturing and cold-chain management of COVID-19 vaccines.
The two half-day events drew participants from medical and health sciences backgrounds from various countries, namely the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Malaysia.
The presence of all counterparts enabled a meaningful exchange of knowledge between medical and health sciences practitioners from public hospitals, namely Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, Klang General Hospital and academia from universities, such as UiTM, Management and Science University, the National University of Malaysia, Bandung Institute of Technology, Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia, Mahidol University Thailand and Gitam University India.
It is also hoped that the event enabled a significant exchange of knowledge and expertise and fostered closer and strategic ties between all parties involved.