↓ Skip to main content

An analysis of pharmacy workforce capacity in Nigeria

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, September 2018
Altmetric Badge

About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Among the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#47 of 517)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (87th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (87th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
1 news outlet
twitter
11 X users

Citations

dimensions_citation
45 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
103 Mendeley
You are seeing a free-to-access but limited selection of the activity Altmetric has collected about this research output. Click here to find out more.
Title
An analysis of pharmacy workforce capacity in Nigeria
Published in
Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, September 2018
DOI 10.1186/s40545-018-0147-9
Pubmed ID
Authors

Aniekan Ekpenyong, Arit Udoh, Eneyi Kpokiri, Ian Bates

Abstract

Pharmacists are critical for attaining the goal of universal health coverage and equitable access to essential health services, particularly in relation to access to medicines and medicines expertise. We describe an analysis of the pharmacy workforce in Nigeria from 2011 to 2016 in order to gain insight on capacity and to inform pharmacy workforce planning and policy development in the country. The study was conducted using census data obtained from the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) via a validated data collection tool. The statistical methods used for analysis were descriptive (frequencies, percentages, mean) and linear regression. Secondary data on population distribution per state was obtained from the Federal Bureau of Statistics and the National Population Commission (NPC) of Nigeria. The data showed 21,892 registered pharmacists with only 59% (n = 12,807) in active professional practice. There are also more male (62%) compared to female pharmacists while 42% of the licensed workforce with known area of practice are in community practice followed by hospital pharmacy (11%). A rise in number of pharmacists (0.53-0.66) and new pharmacy graduates per year (0.062-0.083) per 10,000 population was observed over the five years analysed; however the overall density remains significantly low. Pharmacists' density also varied considerably between states (Median = 0.39; Min - Max: 0.05-4.3). Regionally, more than a third (~ 40%) of the licensed workforce and community pharmacies are situated in the South West region with fewer than 10% of the total in the North East and North West regions combined. A steady decline in number of pharmacists requesting a "letter of good standing" from PCN, a proxy measure of intent to migrate was also observed. The data indicate ongoing deficits in availability and supply of pharmacists in the country with widespread variance in distribution observed across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The findings suggest that observed deficits are not solely related to out-migration and highlights the need for policies that will promote increased within-country availability, equitable distribution and retention, especially in the underserved regions of North East and North West of Nigeria.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 11 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 103 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 103 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 18 17%
Student > Ph. D. Student 8 8%
Lecturer 7 7%
Researcher 6 6%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 5%
Other 13 13%
Unknown 46 45%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 22 21%
Medicine and Dentistry 8 8%
Nursing and Health Professions 7 7%
Business, Management and Accounting 3 3%
Social Sciences 3 3%
Other 9 9%
Unknown 51 50%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 17. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 December 2022.
All research outputs
#2,196,123
of 25,418,993 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice
#47
of 517 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#44,272
of 345,675 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice
#1
of 8 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,418,993 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 91st percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 517 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 10.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 345,675 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 8 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them