The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called for the full integration of community pharmacists into Nigeria’s rimary healthcare and health insurance systems, arguing that their exclusion from key areas of healthcare delivery is undermining access to medicines and progress towards universal health coverage.
The association made the call at its 45th Annual National Scientific Conference, held from July 27 to August 1, 2026, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The conference, themed “UNITY 2026: From Local Pharmacy Practice to Global Impact – Managing Complex Healthcare Systems,” brought together government officials, regulators, legislators, pharmacists and pharmaceutical industry stakeholders to examine challenges confronting Nigeria’s healthcare system.
Delivering the keynote address, Pharm. Wale Oyenuga said community pharmacy practice must move beyond the traditional role of dispensing medicines and become more fully integrated into the country’s healthcare architecture.
Oyenuga argued that community pharmacists, despite being among the most accessible healthcare professionals in Nigeria, remained largely unintegrated into national health policy.
He proposed a five-pillar reform agenda focused on a unified national vision, stronger quality standards, digital data systems, formal integration of community pharmacists into primary healthcare and increased participation in healthcare financing.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) backed the call for greater integration.
Representing the NPHCDA Executive Director, Dr Muyiwa Aina, Pharm. Hauwa said universal health coverage would require the formal inclusion of community pharmacists in primary healthcare policy, an expanded clinical scope of practice and their participation in health insurance reimbursement models.
NHIA Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, also advocated greater use of Nigeria’s extensive community pharmacy network to expand healthcare coverage and strengthen decentralised health financing.
The ACPN National Chairman, Pharm. Ezeh Ambrose Igwekamma, said pharmacists were ready to work with government and other stakeholders to strengthen the health sector, urging policymakers to recognise the profession as a strategic partner in healthcare governance.
He, however, warned that the country’s healthcare system was simultaneously losing a significant number of pharmacists to migration.
Igwekamma disclosed that about 9,000 pharmacists had emigrated from Nigeria in the four-and-a-half years to December 2025, while more than 850 pharmacists obtained letters of good standing from the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) during the first six months of 2026 in preparation to relocate abroad.
He attributed the migration to poor reward systems, delayed enforcement of drug distribution guidelines and disorganised medicine procurement networks.
According to him, the continued loss of skilled pharmacists was creating manpower shortages with implications for patient safety and the sustainability of pharmaceutical services.
The ACPN also called for sweeping reforms to strengthen medicine security and pharmaceutical regulation.
Igwekamma urged the Federal Government to support legislative measures proposing tougher penalties for counterfeit drug offences, including 20 years’ imprisonment for first-time offenders and life imprisonment with total asset forfeiture for repeat offenders.
The association further proposed the establishment of a Drug Management Agency to institutionalise the Drug Revolving Fund and a National Postgraduate College of Pharmacy to train specialist pharmacists locally.
It also called for a Presidential Committee on the Pharmaceutical Sector to coordinate reforms and address longstanding challenges affecting the industry.
On drug abuse, Igwekamma cited United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data which he said showed that more than 21.2 million Nigerians abuse various substances.
He identified poverty, unemployment, peer pressure, dysfunctional family structures, weak enforcement, porous borders, corruption, poor prescription controls and social media influence among the drivers of substance abuse.
The ACPN called for stronger sanctions against illicit drug dealers, increased taxation of tobacco and alcohol, modern rehabilitation centres and improved capacity for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), PCN and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria said it was strengthening regulation of pharmacy practice, including efforts to regulate online pharmacies.
The PCN Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Pharm. Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, also disclosed that the council facilitated specialised professional training during the conference on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, professional ethics and substance-abuse prevention.
NAFDAC warned that changing medicine supply chains, digital marketplaces, cross-border commerce, antimicrobial resistance, artificial intelligence and sophisticated counterfeit drug networks were creating new regulatory challenges.
Representing NAFDAC Director-General, Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, Dr Ramatu Momodu urged community pharmacists to strengthen medicine-safety surveillance and maximise regulatory tools including the NAFDAC Greenbook, Med Safety App and Scan2Verify technology.
She called for every community pharmacy to function as a surveillance point within the medicine supply chain.
Other pharmacy leaders, including the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Pharm. Ayuba Tanko Ibrahim, called for stronger professional collaboration and policy alignment to improve healthcare delivery.
The conference also attracted the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard M. Doro; and Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, among other stakeholders.
The ACPN said stronger collaboration between government and the pharmacy profession remained critical to improving medicine security, expanding healthcare access, tackling drug abuse and achieving universal health coverage.