FIP CEO Ton Hoek dies at 56

Abstract

A.J.M. (Ton) Hoek, M.Sc., who has led the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) since 1999, died on July 28 in the Netherlands after a short battle with cancer. He was 56. Earlier in July, Hoek had received a royal declaration naming him an officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Queen Beatrix bestowed the declaration, which was presented to the FIP chief executive officer (CEO) by the mayor of Hoek’s home village, Huizen. Hoek’s death came two and a half months before the upcoming FIP Centennial Congress and first-ever Ministers Summit on the rational use of medicines. “It’s really particularly tragic that he died before the centennial,” said Philip J. Schneider, an FIP vice president and co-chair of the congress’s program committee. He said Hoek had helped organize the centennial congress as well as the summit. Schneider, who has attended the international congresses since 1988, said Hoek propelled FIP from an organization that focused on national pharmacist organizations to one that helps pharmacists talk with all the people necessary to have an impact on health care.