Reconceptualizing Community Pharmacy Practice in Ghana for Strengthened Primary Healthcare and Public Health

Ghana faces persistent challenges in achieving equitable access to healthcare due to socio-economic and infrastructural limitations. Community pharmacies, widely distributed across the country and trusted within local communities, represent an underused yet strategic platform for strengthening primary healthcare and advancing public health goals.  Within the Ghana Health Service’s Network of Practice model, these pharmacies can function as accessible entry points, complementing hospitals and clinics. This paper draws on an integrative literature review and expert insights from hospital practice, community pharmacy, and global health to propose a conceptual framework for repositioning community pharmacy practice in Ghana. By identifying key contextual and enabling factors such as socio-economic, regulatory, technological, and political that influence practice transformation, the framework emphasizes shifting from traditional product-oriented services to expanded roles in preventive care, health promotion, chronic disease management, and collaboration within primary care networks. Positioning community pharmacies in this way has the potential to reduce healthcare access gaps, enhance continuity of care, and accelerate progress toward universal health coverage.

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