2018 ISOPP & SOBRAFO Collaboration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

By Mayde Seadi Torriani, BPharm, MSc.,  Mario Jorge Sobreira da Silva, BPharm, PhD. and Lucas Miyake Okumura, BPharm, BCPS

The 9th Brazilian Oncology Pharmacist Society (SOBRAFO) Biannual Congress was held May 17-19, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rio is the second-most populous municipality in Brazil and the sixth-most populous in the Americas.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most visited cities in the Southern Hemisphere and is known for its natural settings and beaches such as Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana and Ipanema. The 9th SOBRAFO Congress was attended by over 1,100 pharmacists from all over the country, who care for patients with cancer and had the theme of the “Frontiers of oncology pharmacy: from process management to technological innovations”.

The SOBRAFO and ISOPP had their first contact many years ago. Since the first Congress, SOBRAFO has been in collaboration with ISOPP by bringing international speakers to Brazil, and this year was no different. ISOPP was represented by Alex Chan and John Wiernikowski, the current and past elected presidents.

The main conference opened with a welcoming address by the SOBRAFO President, Mario Jorge Sobreira da Silva and then the magna lecture had as its theme of “happiness”.

The congress was also attended by 50 national and two other international guests: Dr Ebtesam Ahmed, Associate Clinical Professor for the Department of Clinical Health Professions (St. John's University), and João Gonçalves, Associate Professor, Microbiology and Immunology (Lisboa University).

The SOBRAFO National Congress is the largest oncology pharmacy event in Latin America and always brings overseas pharmacists interested in collaborating, showing their work and improving their practices. The event had many sessions such as oncopediatrics symposium, palliative care symposium, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation symposium, many hours dedicated to economic burden of cancer treatment, risk share contracts in health care, oncology pharmacy education discussions, workshops on adherence to oral antineoplastic agents and manuscript writing. The event also received the collaboration from the SBRAFH (Sociedade Brasileira de Farmácia Hospitalar), the Brazilian National Hospital Pharmacy Association.

One of the most anticipated moments in the event was the ISOPP Masterclass. This session was dedicated to supportive care in cancer and attendees could hear Alex and John’s experiences in managing patients with tumor lysis syndrome, CINV, mucositis and other cancer-related morbidities in adults and pediatric population. The Masterclass took place over 1 day with interaction between the attendees and the speakers, which surely was a fruitful and unique opportunity for local pharmacists.

The 2020 congress will be in Pernambuco, a northeast state from Brazil. We are looking for future collaborations with ISOPP and hoping that the next event will be as successful as it was this year.

 

 

Group photo with the SOBRAFO Committee
Opening Ceremony of the Congress
Dr.Alex Chan, current President of ISOPP, together with Dr. Mario Jorge Sobreira Da Silva, current President of SOBRAFO and Dr. John Wiernikowski, former President of ISOPP