FG Moves To Expand Pharmacists’ Role In Frontline Care
Dr. Nafisat Makinde, Abuja
Nigeria is moving to expand the role of pharmacists in primary and specialised healthcare while promoting regulated e pharmacy, digital health services, local pharmaceutical manufacturing and stronger action against substandard and falsified medicines, Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said Friday.
Pate, represented by Tetshoma Dafeta, Director overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary and Director of Human Resource Management, made the statement at a ministerial briefing in Abuja to mark the 2026 World Pharmacists Day. The statement was signed by Ado Bako, Assistant Director, Information and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and dated Sept. 25, 2026.
Pate said the reforms were aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and would give pharmacists a larger role in healthcare delivery. He identified workforce development, pharmacy education, clinical residency, continuing professional development, infrastructure, research and innovation as areas requiring sustained investment. “A healthier Nigeria is impossible without an empowered pharmacy workforce,” he said.
The minister said pharmacists were among the most accessible frontline health professionals and were involved in medicines supply, preventive care, chronic disease management, patient safety and the appropriate use of medicines. He also called for closer collaboration among pharmacists, physicians, nurses and other health professionals to improve patient outcomes.
Director of Food and Drug Services Olufowobi Yusuf Adeola said pharmacists’ presence in communities positioned them to support medication counselling, treatment adherence, vaccination awareness, antimicrobial stewardship and chronic disease management. She also called for wider use of telepharmacy and digital health technologies to improve access to pharmaceutical care.
Other health sector officials supported a broader role for pharmacists. NAFDAC Director General Mojisola Adeyeye, represented by Chizoba Maduagwuna, said pharmacists were critical to ensuring medicines were safe, effective and properly used. NHIA Director General Kelechi Ohiri, represented by Yusuf Ibrahim, said access to healthcare was incomplete without access to safe and affordable medicines, while PVAC National Coordinator Abdul Mukhtar, represented by Muhammed Balarabe, said pharmacists were essential to efforts to expand local pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The briefing was held under the 2026 World Pharmacists Day theme, “Empowering Pharmacists for Healthier Futures,” which the International Pharmaceutical Federation says focuses on giving pharmacists the skills, recognition and system support needed to respond to changing healthcare needs.