The decision – made at the association's annual general meeting on April 30 – was a result of “numerous social changes”, it explained yesterday (May 6).

The association “has faced the same challenges as many membership organisations, particularly those that cannot abandon their raison d'être”, it said.

“Quite understandably, despite sentiments of support, they fall victim to busy lives...and short-termism.”

“Extensive” talks with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) over the past five years to “find a way to transfer the NAWP’s experience and expertise on gender and diversity matters” into the society had been unsuccessful, it added on Twitter.

The NAWP was formed in London in June 1905, and has the stated mission of “enabling all women pharmacists to realise their full potential and raise their profile by being educationally, socially and politically active”.

NAWP president Anita White said dissolving the association had been a “very tough decision to make”.

“Please keep the ethos and battle going,” she wrote on Twitter. “It’s sadly needed as much today as it was in 1905.”

Read Ms White’s article from last year, giving her take on C+D’s findings that female pharmacists are paid less than their male counterparts.