Health
Pharmacists need more than recognition to transform healthcare — Expert
Iyanuoluwa Abiola
The immediate past vice chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Ogun State chapter, Dr Olumide Obube, has urged governments and health institutions to create opportunities for pharmacists to take on broader roles in patient care.
He said pharmacists need more than professional recognition to make meaningful contributions to the healthcare system in Nigeria.
According to him, pharmacists’ expertise remained underutilised despite the pressure on Nigeria’s health system, including inadequate financing, workforce shortages and limited access to healthcare.
The pharmacist and public health expert made the call in a statement on Friday to commemorate World Pharmacists Day 2026. The WPD is commemorated yearly on September 25. The 2026 theme is “Empowering pharmacists for healthier futures”.
Obube argued that pharmacists could contribute more to primary healthcare, public health programmes, chronic disease management, medicine safety, and other areas if they were properly integrated into the health system.
“World Pharmacists Day 2026 allows us to celebrate the pharmacist, but celebration alone is insufficient. The evidence from global studies, African workforce data, and Nigerian research demonstrates that pharmacists can make meaningful contributions to medication adherence, chronic disease management, primary healthcare, antimicrobial stewardship, and health-system performance.
“However, pharmacists cannot deliver their full potential in isolation. They need education, recognition, supportive regulation, appropriate financing, technology, research opportunities, professional collaboration and integration into health systems.
“For Africa and particularly Nigeria, empowering pharmacists should form part of the broader strategy for achieving universal health coverage, improving medicine safety, addressing non-communicable diseases, combating antimicrobial resistance and strengthening resilient health systems,” he said.
Obube urged pharmacists to strengthen their competencies and embrace evidence-based practice.
“Professional advocacy should be accompanied by professional excellence,” he said.
According to him, pharmacists must also improve pharmaceutical care, participate actively in public health programmes, strengthen pharmacovigilance and champion antimicrobial stewardship.
Beyond these roles, he urged practitioners to embrace digital transformation, conduct research, mentor younger colleagues and collaborate more closely with other healthcare professionals.
According to him, pharmacists should demonstrate measurable value to patients and the health system rather than relying solely on professional advocacy to secure greater recognition.
Obube also called on government and health system leaders to develop policies that would enable pharmacists to contribute more effectively to primary healthcare and public health.
The pharmacist urged regulators to establish clear, evidence-based frameworks for their involvement in healthcare delivery, while health institutions should integrate them into multidisciplinary teams.
He noted that pharmacists were well positioned to contribute to healthcare because of their knowledge of medicines and their accessibility to members of the public.
