The Community Pharmacist Assessment and Career Progression Institute (CPACPI) initiative has continued to attract growing global support as stakeholders rally behind its framework to transform career development in community pharmacy practice.
The momentum follows a successful stakeholders’ engagement meeting in Abuja, where leaders of the pharmacy profession, regulators, development partners, and private sector actors came together to strengthen collaboration around the initiative.
A major highlight of the meeting was the announcement that the CPACPI framework received endorsement from the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) during its 83rd World Congress in Copenhagen.
The endorsement is widely seen as a major milestone for community pharmacy practice, positioning CPACPI as a global model for professional development, quality assurance and healthcare transformation.
The initiative, known as “Pharmacy Forward: Performance, Collaboration and Health Transformation,” seeks to establish a structured professional pathway that will transform community pharmacies from traditional medicine outlets into advanced clinical health hubs integrated within the primary healthcare system.
National Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Ambrose Igwekamma Ezeh, in his welcome address, emphasised the importance of strengthening the capacity of community pharmacists to improve healthcare delivery.
According to him, community pharmacists remain the most accessible healthcare professionals, noting that nearly 60 per cent of patients first seek care from pharmacists before visiting hospitals.
Reflecting on the role pharmacists played during the COVID-19 Pandemic, he said: “Community pharmacies provide frontline support and ensure uninterrupted access to medicines.”
He noted that the CPACPI initiative would evaluate and elevate pharmacy practice through continuous learning, professional assessment and career advancement.
Chairman of the CPACPI Board, Iyeseun Asieba, in a presentation titled “A Competency-Driven Community Pharmacist Workforce,” highlighted the urgent need to strengthen Nigeria’s health system in the face of the growing migration of skilled professionals often referred to as the “Japa syndrome.”
She explained that the CPACPI framework introduces standardised evaluation procedures across three major pillars, capacity building, quality improvement and career band progression, aimed at transforming community pharmacies into clinical health hubs.
Further strengthening the framework, Ibironke Dada presented the Quality Assurance and Improvement component, outlining minimum practice standards designed to protect patients and promote consistent professional excellence.
Providing the academic framework for career advancement, Emeka Ubaka unveiled a structured professional progression pathway described by stakeholders as the first of its kind globally.
The roadmap introduces four professional bands for community pharmacists: Community Pharmacist, Senior Community Pharmacist, Senior Community Pharmacist Specialist and Consultant Pharmacist, with progression tied to measurable competence, structured training and professional evaluation.