By Abdulhameed Oladejo
Pharmacists in Lagos have urged the state and federal governments to urgently overhaul Nigeria’s drug distribution system, integrate pharmacy services into health insurance schemes, and give pharmacists their due recognition within the healthcare system.
The pharmacists warned that continued neglect will endanger public health and derail progress toward universal health coverage (UHC).
This call was the central message at the 2025 World Pharmacists Day celebration in Lagos, themed “Think Health, Think Pharmacist.” The event, held at the PSN Secretariat in Ogudu, featured a health walk, community outreach, media engagement, and capacity-building sessions—all designed to spotlight the essential role pharmacists play in healthcare delivery.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, ACPN, Lagos Chapter, Pharm. Tolu Ajayi, condemned the state government’s failure to enforce the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG).
He described Nigeria’s current drug distribution system as “chaotic and unsafe,” warning that without structured reform, the country will remain vulnerable to fake, substandard, and counterfeit medicines.
“No other professional is better equipped to ensure the safety, authenticity, and quality of medicines,” Ajayi stated. “Pharmacists must be at the heart of drug supply and monitoring if we are serious about protecting public health.”
Ajayi also decried the marginalisation of community pharmacists in public health initiatives. “Pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers in our communities, yet we are treated as an afterthought in policy planning,” he said. “This exclusion is unjust and dangerous—it denies patients the critical support they need at the primary care level.”
Echoing this concern, Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, Lagos, Pharm. Babayemi Oyekunle, criticised the National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA and Lagos State health insurance programme for their continued sidelining of pharmacists.
He described this omission as a “deliberate weakening of the profession” and a threat to patients’ access to safe and affordable medicines.
“A health insurance framework that fails to fully include pharmacists is fundamentally flawed,” Oyekunle asserted. “The pharmacy is often the first point of contact for patients. To ignore this reality is to undermine the entire healthcare system.”
He added that while the government often speaks about reform, it does little in practice to include pharmacists in its health strategies. “Universal Health Coverage cannot be achieved if pharmacists remain outside the core of policy and financing decisions,” he said.
Immediate past ACPN Lagos Chairman, Pharm. Lawrence Ekhator, highlighted the need for more proactive media advocacy from pharmacists to counter longstanding misconceptions about their role. “Despite being indispensable to patient care and drug safety, pharmacists remain under-recognised,” he said. “We must speak louder, more clearly, and more often about our contributions.”
This year’s celebration—featuring a health walk to the ACPN Secretariat in Ketu Alapere, outreach programmes, and media engagements—was geared toward reinforcing the message that pharmacists are central to a resilient and equitable health system.
The Lagos ACPN insisted that without urgent reforms in drug distribution, integration into health insurance and proper representation in policy-making, Nigeria’s healthcare system will remain fragile and incapable of meeting its citizens’ needs.
The event drew widespread participation from pharmacy stakeholders, zonal coordinators, and members across Lagos State. Together, they marked World Pharmacists Day with renewed calls for reform and recognition, asserting that pharmacists must no longer be sidelined in the country’s healthcare journey.
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