France, 5 March 2026 – Opella, a global leader in consumer health, and the International Federation of Pharmacists (FIP), the global body representing more than 5.5 million pharmacists, pharmaceutical educators and pharmaceutical scientists, today announce a five-year strategic partnership to advance self-care and health literacy worldwide.
The collaboration makes Opella the first self-care company to develop such an agreement with FIP and formalizes a long-standing relationship between the organizations that started in 2020. Three strategic domains anchor the partnership: sustainable pharmacy practice, health literacy & education, and equitable access to self-care. The shared ambition is to strengthen the role of pharmacists as frontline public-health leaders and ensure self-care is fully integrated into Universal Health Coverage (UHC), a core commitment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
An estimated 5.5 million pharmacists work worldwide, according to data from 83 countries that cover 71% of the global population. Reports from 59 of these countries confirm that over 2 million are actively providing pharmacy services1, representing one of the largest and most accessible health workforces worldwide. At a time when the World Health Organization projects a global shortfall of up to 11 million health workers by 2030, particularly in low- and middle-income countries2, empowering pharmacists to expand their role in accessible primary care, public health education, and responsible self-care is both timely and essential.
Building on years of successful collaboration, the partnership will leverage global data, advocacy, and educational initiatives to empower national pharmacy associations, improve health literacy, and accelerate the adoption of responsible self-care in population health policy. Key initiatives will include generating new data on pharmacists and their practice on self-care, producing evidence and policy tools for local policy advocacy, creating global educational materials to build the knowledge and confidence of pharmacists globally, and launching an advocacy campaign to elevate the role of pharmacists in self-care.
Dr Josephine Fubara. Chief Science Officer at Opella.
This partnership embodies our mission to bring health directly into people’s hands. Pharmacists are among the most trusted and accessible healthcare professionals worldwide enabling self-care, and by formalizing our collaboration with FIP, we are taking a significant step towards strengthening a more resilient and sustainable healthcare ecosystem for all. Through this partnership, we support greater empowerment by giving them the scientific tools, data, and training they need to build patient confidence and guide people toward better health outcomes
Mr Paul Sinclair AM. FIP President.
This five-year partnership strengthens existing global collaborations between FIP and Opella to advance sustainable self-care in pharmacy, health literacy and education, and access, which align with FIP Development Goals (DG) 10 – Equity and Equality, DG 18 – Access to medicines, devices and services, and DG 21 – Sustainability in Pharmacy. This partnership seeks to deliver the FIP 2025-2030 Strategic Plan and, at the same time, reinforces the role of pharmacists at the frontline of primary healthcare.
Initial priorities for the partnership include conducting a global survey across 15 countries of pharmacists and pharmacist associations on the topics of self-care and health literacy. Opella and FIP will share findings from the survey at a side event at the 79th World Assembly in May and will provide a means of measuring progress over the five-year partnership.
About Opella.
Opella is the self-care challenger with the purest and third-largest portfolio in the Over-The-Counter (OTC) & Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements (VMS) market globally. Our mission is to bring health in people’s hands by making self-care as simple as it should be. For half a billion consumers worldwide – and counting. At the core of this mission are our 100 loved brands, our 11,000-strong global team, our 13 best-in-class manufacturing sites and 4 specialized science and innovation development centers. Headquartered in France, Opella is the proud maker of many of the world’s most loved brands, including Allegra, Buscopan, Doliprane, Dulcolax, Enterogermina, Essentiale and Mucosolvan. B Corp certified globally, we are active players in the journey towards healthier people and planet.
Find out more about our mission at www.opella.com.
Press contacts.
Justine Rohée. justine.rohee@sanofi.com. +33 6 86 47 85 60.
Natacha Kalasa. natacha.kalasa@sanofi.com. +33 6 72 16 64 61. (Corporate + FR Brands).
Philippa Carnohan. philippa.carnohan@sanofi.com. +33 6 31 14 82 36. (Global Brands).
All trademarks mentioned in this press release are the property of Opella.
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