Pharmacist urges colleagues to embrace AI to boost profession’s visibility

Janet Ogundepo

A healthcare strategist and pharmacist, Dr Adetutu Afolabi, has urged Nigerian pharmacists to embrace artificial intelligence, data-driven clinical decision-making and stronger collaboration with other healthcare professionals to increase the profession’s visibility and drive better patient outcomes.

Afolabi made the call while delivering a plenary session titled, “The Future-Ready Pharmacist: Driving Value Through Innovation, Wellness and Collaboration,” at a conference of pharmacy directors and hospital leaders from Federal Health Institutions across Nigeria.

Speaking on the conference theme, “Pharmacy Excellence in Nigeria: Strengthening Collaboration, Driving Transformation,” she argued that the profession’s challenge was not a lack of value but inadequate recognition of its contributions to healthcare.

In a statement shared with PUNCH Healthwise, Afolabi said the changing healthcare landscape, characterised by rising healthcare costs, increasing cases of chronic diseases, workforce shortages, artificial intelligence and the global shift towards value-based healthcare, requires pharmacists to adapt to new realities.

“Pharmacy does not have a value problem; pharmacy has a visibility problem. Every day, pharmacists prevent medication errors, improve patient outcomes, optimise therapies, reduce healthcare costs and save lives. Yet much of that value remains unseen because it is not consistently measured, communicated, or translated into evidence that healthcare leaders can act upon.
“To change this narrative, we need to tell our stories of impact loudly and clearly,” she said.

The pharmacist highlighted healthcare delivery models in countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Spain, where pharmacists have expanded responsibilities such as independent prescribing for chronic diseases, vaccine administration, population health management and interdisciplinary collaboration.

She urged Nigerian pharmacists to leverage artificial intelligence, strengthen preventive healthcare, adopt data-driven approaches and build stronger partnerships with other healthcare professionals to accelerate innovation in the country’s health sector.

Afolabi also challenged the next generation of pharmacists to redefine the profession through innovation and leadership.

“Every generation inherits a profession. Only a few generations transform it. We have inherited a proud profession. Our responsibility is not merely to preserve it but to advance it, to create value, to lead innovation, to champion wellness, to influence policy, and to transform healthcare.
“When the story of healthcare transformation in Nigeria is written, may it be said that this generation of pharmacists chose not merely to practice pharmacy, but to redefine what pharmacy could become,” she said.

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