Association unveils CPACPI framework to create career pathways and integrate community pharmacies into primary healthcare_
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has presented Nigeria’s pioneering Community Pharmacists Assessment and Career Progression Institute (CPACPI) framework at the 84th FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Montreal, Canada.
The presentation, delivered by ACPN National Chairman Pharm. Ambrose Igwekamma Ezeh between August 30 and September 2, 2026, placed Nigeria’s community pharmacy reforms at the centre of international discussions on workforce development under the congress theme, “One Health, One Pharmacy – Bridging science, practice, and education.”
ACPN launched CPACPI in 2025 as the first structured, competency-based career progression pathway for community pharmacists in Nigeria. The initiative was designed to address what the association described as a longstanding gap: the absence of clear advancement opportunities for pharmacists working outside hospital and academic settings. A year after its rollout, the framework and supporting research were showcased to pharmacists, educators, scientists and policymakers from across the world.
“Our mission through CPACPI is not merely to create an academic milestone, but to build a resilient, sustainable workforce capable of delivering world-class primary healthcare,” Ezeh said during the presentation.
The study presented in Montreal, titled “The Implementation Gap: Perceived Barriers and External Threats to Community Pharmacists’ Participation in a Career Advancement Scheme in Nigeria,” surveyed 182 practising community pharmacists nationwide. Researchers from CPACPI Lagos, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu found that more than three-fifths of respondents said daily practice demands limit participation in professional development. Younger and mid-career pharmacists with fewer than 20 years’ experience cited the financial burden of training and certification as a major concern. Weak enforcement against illegal medicine outlets and competition from patent medicine vendors were also identified as the biggest systemic threats to professional practice.
Rather than stop at diagnosis, ACPN said it has embedded fixes into the framework. Planned measures include tiered, subsidised professional development grants for younger pharmacists and flexible, self-paced digital learning modules to allow training without disrupting patient care. Ezeh also called for stronger multi-agency enforcement against unaccredited medicine outlets to protect both professional standards and patient safety.
At the core of CPACPI is a five-band progression ladder intended to end career stagnation in community practice: Band 1: Community Pharmacist, Band 2: Senior Community Pharmacist, Band 3: Community Pharmacy Specialist, Band 4: Community Pharmacy Senior Specialist, and Band 5: Community Pharmacy Consultant. Advancement will be based on measurable competencies in areas such as clinical care, mentorship, digital health integration and continuous quality improvement.
Beyond career progression, ACPN is advocating for accredited community pharmacies to be designated as private-sector primary healthcare facilities and integrated into Nigeria’s national health insurance system. “There is a pressing need for government authorities, policy-makers, and national health authorities to identify and designate qualified community pharmacies as official primary healthcare facility providers in the private sector,” Ezeh said, noting that pharmacies are often the most accessible point of care for millions of Nigerians. The association argues that such integration could expand access, improve outcomes and ease pressure on overstretched public facilities.
ACPN says the Nigerian model offers lessons for other low- and middle-income countries seeking to maximize the role of community pharmacists in primary healthcare, Universal Health Coverage and medicine safety. “The long-term success of the CPACPI framework rests on our collective ability to bridge the gap between policy design and real-world execution,” Ezeh added, citing the need for regulatory support, financial accessibility and stronger market standards.
From its launch in Nigeria in 2025 to its debut at FIP in 2026, CPACPI is now being positioned as both a workforce reform and a broader healthcare delivery strategy — one that seeks to redefine the community pharmacist from dispenser to clinically-driven primary care provide
