The Open University of China (OUC) hosted the inaugural pharmaceutical science popularisation competition titled “Pharmacy for Health, Competing for the Future” on 28 November 2024 in Beijing. A total of 16 entries qualified for the on-site competition. Among them, five won first prizes and eight received second prizes.

Zhou Tianming, vice president of OUC, attended the event and delivered an address. The judging panel for the on-site competition included Professor Wu Jianhui, vice dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Capital Medical University; Professor Yin Xingbin, vice dean of the School of Chinese Materia Medica at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine; Liu Fang, a professor of pharmacy and director of the Pharmacy Department at Peking University Third Hospital's Haidian Branch; Li Peihong, a professor of pharmacy from Xiyuan Hospital of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; Yan Suying, a professor of pharmacy from Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University; Wang Lixia, a professor of pharmacy from Guang’anmen Hospital of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; and Professor Guo Xiaoxia from the OUC.

It has been 23 years since the offering of majors of pharmacy sciences at the OUC. As of the autumn term of 2024, the programmes have enrolled about 450,000 students in total, with approximately 280,000 graduates and more than 160,000 current students. The enrolment spans 40 branches (colleges), and most students are pharmacy service professionals working in community and hospital pharmacies. Rooted in frontline positions across the country, these students not only serve as guardians of public health but also as practitioners of the Healthy China Initiative, making significant contributions to the safe and rational use of medications for the people.

Reprinted by OUC News Network from Guangming Daily