{"title":"The paradox of community pharmacy practice in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).","authors":"Nadir Kheir","doi":"10.1080/20523211.2025.2475082","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Community pharmacies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are widely accessible yet underutilized due to regulatory constraints, educational disparities, public misconceptions, and economic pressures. These factors limit pharmacists' roles to mere dispensers, hindering their integration into healthcare systems. Addressing this paradox requires regulatory reforms, alignment of education with practice, public awareness campaigns, and systemic integration to fully leverage community pharmacies' potential in enhancing healthcare delivery.</p>","PeriodicalId":16740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice","volume":"18 1","pages":"2475082"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11899197/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20523211.2025.2475082","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HEALTH POLICY & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Community pharmacies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are widely accessible yet underutilized due to regulatory constraints, educational disparities, public misconceptions, and economic pressures. These factors limit pharmacists' roles to mere dispensers, hindering their integration into healthcare systems. Addressing this paradox requires regulatory reforms, alignment of education with practice, public awareness campaigns, and systemic integration to fully leverage community pharmacies' potential in enhancing healthcare delivery.