Pharmacists in Nigeria have decried the deficiency of community pharmacists in the country, calling for a deliberate action to grow the number of registered community pharmacists from the present 6000 to at least 50,000 in the next five years.

They disclosed this during one of the plenary sessions at the ongoing 91st Annual Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) with the theme, “Innovative Disruption in Pharmacy in Emerging Economies: A Roadmap for Nigeria”.

The panelists including the National Chairman of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Pharm. Samuel Adekola, Chief Executive Officer of Advantage Health Africa, Pharm. Abimbola Adebakin, among others spoke on “Re-Imagine Pharmacy: Community Pharmacy Model in the Digital Economy”.

In her lead presentation, Adebakin said Nigeria is presently underserved owing to dearth of community pharmacists.

According to her, to address the shortage, “We should rapidly grow the number and presence of licensed community pharmacists in Nigeria”.

She suggested that with 5000 community pharmacists annually, the number would be increased to 50,000 in the next five years.

The pharmacist however noted that pharmacists must adopt technology to improve their efficiency and rejig their model of pharmaceutical practices in line with the digital landscape.