COVID-19: Community Pharmacy Practice in Africa

In the 21st century, the world has seen a fair share of widespread infectious disease outbreaks that thrusts healthcare workers at the frontline, putting their expertise to work in containing them. The position of the pharmacists had been utilized in such crises with their role shifting from a product-centered to patient-centered care (1). Pharmacists are an essential part of healthcare team that performs exceptional roles in the containment of the earlier pandemics and global health crisis including Ebola and Zika (2). During the H1N1 influenza pandemic, community pharmacies were recognized by patients as convenient locations to receive pandemic influenza vaccinations (3) and in course of the 2010 to 2011 influenza season, 18.4 percent of adult influenza vaccines were administered in community pharmacies (4), this further reinforces the much-needed role pharmacists can play in responding to health emergencies. It has been reported that 93 percent of pharmacists would be willing to report to work in course of a future disease outbreak (5) such as COVID-19. Engagement of pharmacists in pandemics is vital due to their specialized knowledge in ensuring and supporting effective responses to diseases outbreak.