The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) is seeking Federal Government approval for a national ‘Pharmacy First’ protocol that would make community pharmacies the first point for early detection of suspected Ebola cases and other infectious diseases.
National Chairman, Pharm. Ezeh Ambrose, in a statement, said Nigeria must leverage the extensive network of community pharmacies across all 774 LGAs to strengthen epidemic surveillance, enable prompt referrals and decongest secondary and tertiary hospitals.
According to ACPN, the model will expand pharmacy services to include symptom recognition, health education, basic screening and referral of suspected cases to designated facilities, while supporting isolation guidance and contact tracing to limit exposure in crowded hospital settings.
The association said effective implementation requires investment in Good Pharmacy Practice, digital surveillance tools, standardised data reporting to national health databases, and closer collaboration with primary healthcare centres and health insurance providers.
It cited the UK where community pharmacies sustained access to care during public health emergencies, and warned that failure to integrate pharmacies into the first line of defence poses a major risk to national health security.
Pharm. Ezeh urged President Bola Tinubu to issue an executive directive for immediate rollout, noting that the network is already in place and can be activated within 48 hours at no extra infrastructure cost to government, and called for a joint task force with the Federal Ministry of Health to develop clinical guidelines and referral protocols.
