Founded in 1989, Tüm Eczacı Kooperatifleri Birliği (TEKB - Association of Pharmacy Cooperatives) is the parent association of all the pharmacist cooperatives in Turkey. Following the most recent industrial developments worldwide and in Turkey, TEKB takes incentive measures to support the improvement of joint cooperatives and their members. It also realizes various projects and activities, trying to offer new services for the pharmaceuticals and health industries.
 
At the moment, there are 5 pharmacist cooperatives operating under the umbrella of TEKB:
• İstanbul Ecza Koop. (1989)
• Ankara Ecza Koop. (1980)
• Bursa Ecza Koop. (1979)
• Edak Ecza Koop. (1979)
• Güney Ecza Koop. (1987)
 
TEKB’s goals
• To pioneer and contribute to production, procurement and distribution activities in order to meet the needs of joint cooperatives, including drugs, drug raw materials, drogs, chemical materials, health and pharmacy tools, consumer products, materials and drugs registered in the index of pharmacopoeias, and all commodities that can be legally sold in pharmacies
• To protect the interests of joint cooperatives
• To organize economic, social and cultural activities to help joint cooperatives to achieve their goals
• To contribute to the healthy development of pharmaceuticals and pharmacies by controlling the accounts and transactions of joint cooperatives
 
TEKB’s strategy
TEKB strives to help pharmacies who are members of cooperatives to increase their corporate productivity and service quality, giving them a distinctive and contemporary identity. The ultimate aim is to enable them to become an important entity within the healthcare system and be preferred by the public.

Dedicated to getting stronger by strengthening its members and grow with them, TEKB centralizes the strategic functions while leaving the implementation to companies, and makes every effort to support pharmacist cooperatives.

TEKB also aims to enable cooperatives to turn into corporations that meet the needs of their members other than procurement and provide them with consulting services, to increase the loyalty of member pharmacies, and to create a competitive advantage thanks to the organizational power it possesses.

TEKB is realizing its basic strategies step by step in line with its action plan.    
 
TEKB’s opinion about pharmacist cooperatives
• Professional know-how and capabilities of pharmacists must be maximized.
• Pharmacists must be provided with opportunities to use the latest technologies.
• Pharmacies and pharmacists must be regarded as “an important unit in healthcare system.”
• Pharmacists must become more active in their interactions with public, and be provided with training opportunities to enable them to be a part of the protective health system.
• To execute connections and relations between public, pharmacy, TEKB and manufacturer in a transparent information exchange environment, all leading-edge technologies must be utilized.
 
TEKB’s participations
• SECOF (Sociedad Europea De Cooparación Farmacéutica) The European Society of Pharmacist Cooperatives
• GIRP (Groupement International de la Répartition Pharmaceutique Européenne) The European Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers
• Novagenix Bioanalytic Drug Research and Development Center
• Insurance Intermediary Services for Pharmacists
• Modern Pharmacists Laboratory
 
Vision of joint cooperatives
To become a pharmacist cooperative that has turned its members into pharmacies which always provide new services, has grown stronger by strengthening pharmacies who are members of cooperatives, and has ensured as much as it could that people preferred its member pharmacies nationwide.
 
Mission of joint cooperatives
• To give a modern attribute to drug procurement services which are crucial for their members
• To make new service designs in accordance with TEKB’s vision and with the cooperation of TEKB
• To increase productivity by offering new services to their members, and to invest the resulting new sources for the benefit of their members
• To ensure that end consumers are knowledgeable enough to prefer pharmacies who are members of cooperatives
• To transform structures which cause resource loss into ones which create resource
• To allocate additional resources to projects for realizing new service designs by making technological, financial, organizational and managerial adjustments
 
Values of joint cooperatives
• To establish an institutional organization by incorporating the most productive organizational structure and management rules according to the common vision and mission
• To plan a sustainable growth rate, and implement and control it without concession
• To give priority to productivity and comfort of employees
• To create corporate culture
• To contribute to the development of participatory democracy and decision making processes in society by providing the best examples of participation
• To develop and implement models that will increase the equity capital which comprises small savings of and contributions from pharmacists
• Not to compromise deontology
• To give priority to ethic values, and not to exploit the gaps in the socio-economic and legal system during implementation
• To create solidarity and cooperation with democratic mass organizations in order to contribute to the democratization and participation processes of the society in accordance with the common vision and mission
• To organize social, cultural and artistic events to improve society’s cultural level and development, or to develop and realize models that will encourage such initiatives