By Onuh Edoka

A pharmacist and health equity advocate

In Nigeria’s remote towns and villages, access to medicine remains a matter of distance and often, survival.

For millions living in underserved communities, basic treatment for conditions like malaria, hypertension, or infections is not only unaffordable but physically out of reach. Many must travel hours just to reach a registered pharmacy, only to face drug stockouts or inflated prices.

This limited access leads to avoidable deaths, poor health outcomes, and worsening inequality, particularly among low-income and rural populations. According to the World Health Organization, fewer than half of Nigerians have regular access to essential medicines.

In the absence of professional care, many communities turn to unregulated patent medicine sellers. These informal providers offer counterfeit drugs and misleading medical advice, contributing to preventable death.

This is not a marginal problem. It is systemic. Nigeria has only 3,768 registered community pharmacies, yet the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) estimates that more than 2 million unregistered pharmaceutical outlets are operating nationwide, many of them illegal. These outlets are especially concentrated in rural areas, where formal healthcare infrastructure is limited or nonexistent.

This vast disparity reveals both a crisis and a chance for reform. Mobile pharmacy units can fill this gap by offering safer, pharmacist-led alternatives. They provide not only essential medicines but also professional guidance, accurate health information, and regulatory accountability currently missing in many underserved regions.

A Practical Model for Solving This Long-standing Problem

To address this challenge, we piloted a network of mobile pharmacy units using a lean startup approach. Each unit is a pharmacist-led, roving drug dispenser equipped with temperature-controlled storage, a qualified pharmacist, basic health screening tools and secured shelving to ensure proper storage and integrity of medications throughout transit. We gathered feedback from each community and improved the model iteratively. The pilot reached several underserved communities across North Central Nigeria. The results were immediate and deeply impactful: 

73% reduction in average travel time to access essential medicines

52% increase in availability of chronic disease medications

Over 10,000 patients served in the first six months

41% improvement in medication adherence, especially for hypertension and diabetes

28% cost savings compared to conventional outlets

These figures reflect more than efficiency. They represent stabilized lives, reduced emergency hospital visits, and restored public trust in healthcare delivery.

A Human Story Behind the Data

In one community, a 63-year-old woman with diabetes said, “I stopped using my medicine for weeks because I couldn’t travel to town and had no money for transport. Now I get my medicine and even get checked here.”

A young father shared, “My child had malaria, and I used to borrow a motorcycle to take him to the clinic. Now the pharmacist is two minutes away.”

These voices echo across the communities we reached. They reflect quiet but powerful victories in the pursuit of health equity.

Policy Shift

The success of mobile pharmacies is not accidental. It is the result of intentional design, local input, and continuous iteration. To scale this impact nationally, we must act on three fronts:

Establish regulatory frameworks that support mobile pharmaceutical services, including oversight from bodies like the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN)

Incentivize local pharmaceutical manufacturing to ensure steady, affordable medicine supply

Build public-private partnerships that integrate mobile pharmacies into primary healthcare delivery

Above all, we must reframe access to medicines as a human right, not a privilege based on geography or income.

A Call to Innovate with Urgency 

As Nigeria works toward Universal Health Coverage by 2030, healthcare solutions must meet people where they are. Healthcare doesn’t have to wait for brick and mortar clinics. It needs wheels, empathy, and bold policy support.

Mobile pharmacy units are not the final solution but they are a scalable, context-sensitive, and life-changing innovation. They represent what is possible when we combine professional rigor with proximity and compassion.

Let us bring essential medicines to the people, ensuring that every Nigerian, regardless of location or circumstance, has unhindered access to safe and effective medicines.

About the Author

Onuh Edoka is a pharmacist and health equity advocate.