FG Signals Expanded Role for Pharmacists in Clinical Care, Digital Health and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

ABUJA, Nigeria — The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening pharmacy practice and expanding the role of pharmacists across Nigeria’s health system, highlighting clinical care, digital health, medicines safety and local pharmaceutical manufacturing as areas requiring greater professional participation.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, made the position known on 25 September 2026 during a Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja to commemorate World Pharmacists Day 2026, themed “Empowering Pharmacists for Healthier Futures.”

Represented by the Director Overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary and Director of Human Resource Management, Mrs Tetshoma Dafeta, Pate described pharmacists as among Nigeria’s most accessible frontline health professionals, pointing to their contributions to medicines supply, preventive care, chronic disease management, patient safety and the rational use of medicines.

Government outlines broader pharmacy roles

According to the Ministry, ongoing health-sector reforms are intended to strengthen pharmacy practice and integrate pharmacists more effectively into healthcare delivery.

The areas highlighted include expanding pharmacists’ roles in primary and specialised care, regulated e-pharmacy and digital health platforms, local pharmaceutical manufacturing, and efforts to prevent substandard and falsified medical products.

The Minister also called for sustained investment in pharmacy education, clinical residency programmes, continuing professional development, workplace infrastructure, research and innovation.

He stressed the importance of stronger collaboration between pharmacists and other healthcare professionals, including physicians and nurses.

“Pharmacists must be positioned not only as custodians of medicines, but as active partners in clinical care, public health, digital health and the development of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry,” Pate said, according to the Ministry.

Medicines safety and community pharmacy highlighted

In her welcome address, the Director, Food and Drug Services, Mrs Olufowubi-Yusuf Adeola mni, highlighted pharmacists’ contribution to safe and effective medicine use, patient counselling, medication adherence and the prevention of harmful drug interactions and medication-related errors.

She also pointed to pharmacists’ accessibility within communities as an opportunity to strengthen public health interventions, including health education, vaccination awareness, antimicrobial stewardship and chronic disease management.

Adeola called for pharmacists to be provided with the competencies, tools and professional environment required to respond to emerging health challenges, while highlighting innovations such as telepharmacy and digital health technologies.

NAFDAC links pharmacists to medicines quality and safety

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Christiannah Adeyeye, represented by Pharm. (Mrs) Chizoba Maduagwuna, Director, Greater FCT, also highlighted the profession’s role in ensuring that access to medicines is accompanied by appropriate standards of quality, safety and efficacy.

The position reinforces the pharmacist’s role not only in making medicines available but also in supporting their appropriate and safe use throughout the healthcare system.

NHIA highlights pharmaceutical care in health insurance

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) also identified pharmacists as important to the attainment of universal health coverage.

Speaking through his representative, Yusuf Ibrahim, the NHIA Director-General, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, said the Authority would continue to strengthen collaboration with pharmacists on medicines formularies, reimbursement processes and the integration of pharmaceutical care into quality assurance frameworks.

The emphasis on reimbursement and pharmaceutical care places pharmacy within a broader health-financing conversation, particularly around how medicines and pharmaceutical services are incorporated into quality healthcare coverage.

Local manufacturing also placed on the agenda

The National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative on Healthcare Value Chain, Dr Abdul Mukhtar, highlighted pharmacists’ contribution to the industrialisation of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector.

The Federal Government’s emphasis on local pharmaceutical manufacturing therefore extends the World Pharmacists Day conversation beyond patient-facing practice to the wider pharmaceutical value chain.

For the profession, this connects pharmacy practice with issues including medicines production, supply security, regulation, research and innovation.

What the policy direction could mean for pharmacists

The announcements at the briefing point towards a broader conception of the pharmacist’s role within Nigeria’s health system.

Rather than focusing solely on medicines procurement and dispensing, the areas identified by government span clinical care, public health, digital health, medicines safety, health financing, research, education and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

This direction is also consistent with the Ministry’s emphasis during the 2025 World Pharmacists Day commemoration on strengthening pharmacy education and workforce development, regulatory enforcement, research and innovation, and local pharmaceutical manufacturing.

For pharmacists, however, translating the policy direction into practice will depend on implementation, including appropriate training, professional development, infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, financing mechanisms and effective integration into multidisciplinary care.

A World Pharmacists Day message focused on the future

The 2026 World Pharmacists Day commemoration therefore comes with a policy message that extends beyond recognition of the profession.

The Federal Government has signalled its intention to build a pharmacy workforce that is better equipped and more fully integrated into Nigeria’s health system, while stakeholders including the Ministry, NAFDAC and NHIA have highlighted different areas in which pharmacists can contribute to healthcare delivery.

The challenge ahead will be turning these commitments into sustainable opportunities for pharmacists to contribute to patient care, public health, medicines safety and the development of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector.