History of Pharmacists Without Borders Canada

When pharmacist Hubert Brault retired, he sought out a non-profit organization to lend his pharmacy expertise to. It was in this search that he first met Jean-Louis Machuron, founding president of PSF in Clermont-Ferrant, France. Fortunately for both parties, this first meeting occurred shortly following the decision by PSF to expand operations with a view towards internationalization. Hubert took on the task of spearheading a Canadian branch of PSF, which was to be the third PSF outside of France, and the first in North America.

Upon his return to Canada, Hubert proposed the new venture to two of his fellow pharmacists; Yves Chicoine and Georges Roy. Upon agreeing to join Hubert, the three found that their specific fields of expertise covered all the facets of the pharmaceutical spectrum: Hubert had worked in retail pharmacy, Yves in corporate pharmaceuticals, and Georges in hospital pharmacy.

Shortly afterward, the three met with Van Hung Nguyen, a pharmacist who had already participated in a PSF mission abroad. In 1994, the first board of directors was assembled, their first task being to find a headquarters from which to base their operations. The Quebec Association of Pharmacy Owners (L'Association Québécoise des Pharmaciens Propriétaires -A.Q.P.P.) graciously stepped in and offered the use of their office space. From there the eager volunteers worked on drafting a charter, and in 1995, PSF-Canada was officially established as a non-profit NGO.

Thanks to the generosity of Jacques Boisvert, president of Novopharm, PSF-Canada received its first financial contribution, which was fortunately repeated on an annual basis for many years to come.

Now the real work was to begin: finding candidates to work on PSF missions abroad.

Due to exposure generated from numerous articles in pharmacy trade journals, conferences were held at various universities and pharmaceutical trade shows. This initial campaign period helped send approximately eighty Canadian pharmacists on humanitarian missions abroad.

Canadian pharmacists have participated in PSF missions to:

PSF-Canada’s level of commitment and competence were instrumental in establishing their reputation not only in Europe, but also in the countries where PSF missions were taking place.

This reputation afforded PSF-Canada a seat on the Board of Directors of PSF-CI (Pharmacists without Borders - International Committee) and permitted them to actively participate in major decisions of the entire PSF movement.

Since its’ inception in 1994, PSF-Canada has never stopped moving forward. In 2005 Hubert Brault handed over the presidency of the Board of Directors to Jean-Michel Lavoie, who continued to assure the continuing development of PSF-Canada.

In September of 2007, Jean-Michel Lavoie relinquished the presidency of PSF-Canada to pharmacist Diane Lamarre. Jean-Michel's commitment to the PSF movement did not diminish and he retained his seat on the board of directors.

With Diane Lamarre as president, PSF-Canada is still dedicated to its missions in Mali and Haïti, constantly striving to facilitate access to and improve the usage of medications. PSF-Canada also continues to promote proper drug donation policies that conform to the guidelines established by the World Health Organization.