The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has urged the government to officially recognize accredited community pharmacies as private-sector primary healthcare providers.
They argue that integrating these pharmacies into Nigeria’s healthcare and health insurance systems could improve access to care and reduce strain on public hospitals.
This demand was made during the 84th FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Montreal, Canada, where the association introduced its Community Pharmacists Assessment and Career Progression Institute (CPACPI) framework.
ACPN National Chairman, Pharm. Ambrose Igwekamma Ezeh, presented the framework, highlighting that community pharmacies are among the most accessible healthcare points for Nigerians and should be incorporated into the country’s primary healthcare system.
“There is a pressing need for government authorities, policy-makers, and national health agencies to identify and officially designate qualified community pharmacies as primary healthcare providers in the private sector,” Ezeh stated.
He added that such recognition would allow community pharmacists to contribute more systematically to primary healthcare, potentially expanding access, enhancing patient outcomes, and easing the burden on overstretched public health facilities.
The association’s proposal aligns with a five-tier career advancement framework designed to enhance the capacities of community pharmacists and address what it termed as the lack of a clear, competency-based career path in community practice.
Under the CPACPI model, pharmacists can advance through five professional levels: Community Pharmacist, Senior Community Pharmacist, Community Pharmacy Specialist, Community Pharmacy Senior Specialist, and Community Pharmacy Consultant.
Advancement would rely on verified competencies such as specialized clinical care, mentorship, digital health integration, and ongoing quality improvement.
Introduced by ACPN in 2025 and presented internationally at the FIP Congress from August 30 to September 2, 2026, the framework was showcased under the theme, “One Health, One Pharmacy – Bridging science, practice, and education.”
The presentation was supported by a study involving 182 practicing community pharmacists across Nigeria, exploring barriers to career advancement programs.
The study identified workload pressures, time constraints, and the high costs of training and certification as key obstacles to professional growth.
It also noted weak enforcement of regulations as the most significant systemic threat to community pharmacy practice, along with concerns about illegal medicine outlets and increasing competition from patent medicine vendors.
Over 60% of respondents reported that daily practice demands limited their ability to participate consistently in career development activities.
The findings further indicated that younger and mid-career pharmacists—those with fewer than 20 years of experience—were more worried about the financial costs of professional development compared to their more experienced colleagues.
Ezeh said ACPN plans to address these issues by introducing tiered, subsidized professional development grants, especially aimed at younger pharmacists.
He also mentioned that flexible, self-paced digital learning modules would be provided to help practitioners gain additional skills without significantly disrupting patient care.
Regarding medicine safety and professional standards, Ezeh called for stronger enforcement against illegal medicine outlets and unaccredited vendors, involving multiple agencies.
“Our mission through CPACPI is not merely to create an academic milestone, but to build a resilient, sustainable workforce capable of delivering world-class primary healthcare,” he stated.
The CPACPI initiative combines professional career growth with a broader effort to reposition community pharmacies within Nigeria’s healthcare system.
The association believes this model could bolster workforce development, medicine safety, Universal Health Coverage, and primary healthcare delivery, provided it is supported by proper regulation and policies.
Ezeh emphasized that the sustainability of the framework depends on collaboration among regulatory bodies, professional organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
“The long-term success of the CPACPI framework rests on our collective ability to bridge the gap between policy design and real-world implementation," he said.
He highlighted that regulatory support, affordable training, reduced workload, and stricter market standards are essential to achieving the initiative’s goals.
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