Lessons from the field - implementing pharmacy services in the Tanzanian hospital setting

Sep 29, 2026

Hospital pharmacy services (HPS) can improve health outcomes, patient satisfaction, and economic value, yet their scope varies by country. In Tanzania, limited sub-Saharan evidence, constrained service capacity, uneven staffing and training, and medication supply differences hinder wider HPS rollout. A 2021 initiative between Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and the Christian Social Services Commission trained pharmacists via a focused curriculum, and the paper details local implementation needs and lessons for scaling and monitoring HPS across micro, meso, and macro levels.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Local setting

Approach

Lessons and implementation considerations

International Health 2026; 18: 1–4 [https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/ihaf079](https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/ihaf079) Advance Access publication 30 July 2025 Lessons from the ﬁeld: implementing pharmacy services in the Tanzanian hospital setting Maarten Lamberta,b, ∗, John Mmassyc, Sungwa Kabissic, Cecilia Benizethc, Gasper Baltazaryd, Betty Allen Magandae and Katja Taxisa a Unit of Pharmacotherapy, Epidemiology and Economics, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 196, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands; b Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80082, 3508 TB, Utrecht, The Netherlands; cChristian Social Services Commission, P.O. Box 9433, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; d Department of Pharmacy, Ruaha Catholic University, P.O. Box 774, Iringa, Tanzania; eSchool of Pharmacy, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O. Box 65013, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania ∗ Corresponding author: Tel: +316 29102971; [E-mail:](E-mail: m.lambert@uu.nl)[ m.lambert@uu.nl](E-mail: m.lambert@uu.nl) Received 11 March 2025; revised 30 April 2025; editorial decision 1 July 2025; accepted 10 July 2025 Introduction In hospital practice, pharmacists are healthcare professionals trained to store, handle, prepare and dispense medications that are used inside the hospital. There are beneﬁts if pharmacists provide extended services to patients in hospitals. These include improved health outcomes, increased patient satisfaction and economic beneﬁts.1 Hospital pharmacy services (HPS) differ by country and even within countries. They can include activities related to the selection, administration and monitoring of medicines through counselling, communication with other healthcare professionals, medication reviews, reconciliation and clinical decision-making.1 Although HPS have been implemented in different settings worldwide, thereis limited literature on HPS in sub-Saharan Africa. It is difﬁcult to extrapolate international literature to this setting due to the lack of services, trained staff and medication availability and its unique population.2 Tanzania could be one of the ﬁrst examples of extended HPS being implemented more widely in this setting. Here, we outline what HPS should look like in Tanzania, how they can best be implemented and where implementation should occur ﬁrst based on multistakeholder perspectives, as well as the lessons we have learned from this. Local setting Tanzania consists of184districts with district hospitals. These districts combine into 31 regions with regional hospitals. Overarching these are six National Super Specialised Hospitals. Hospitals are 40% state-owned, 40% owned by faith-based organisationsand the rest privately owned.2 In 2020, clinical pharmacy services were named as one of the core functions of pharmacists by the National Pharmacy Council and the Ministry of Health. Nevertheless, HPS beyond dispensing are currently not widely implemented throughout Tanzania and signiﬁcant differences exist between hospitals. This includes differences in the role of medication coming from drug sellers (duka la dawa) and the extent to which hospital pharmacists are involved in such medications. Five universities offer a pharmacy curriculum, although the content of their programs is not strictly aligned. Moreover, HPS have low priority in the pharmacy curriculum, if they are present at all. One medical university has included aspects of hospital pharmacy in its curriculum in bachelor’s and master’s degrees of pharmacy since 2008. However, there has been limited enthusiasm for these programs. Several barriers to implementing HPS have been identiﬁed,3 including lack of time, money, resources such as gloves and syringes, skills, staff and conﬁdence among pharmacists and hospital care structures that disfavour pharmacy units in the hospital. Approa

FAQs

What services do hospital pharmacists provide in hospital settings?

Hospital pharmacists store, handle, prepare, and dispense medicines used inside the hospital, and extended HPS can include counselling, communication with other professionals, medication review, reconciliation, and clinical decision-making.

Why is expanding HPS challenging in Tanzania?

Challenges include limited availability of services, trained staff, and medication, plus barriers such as lack of time, money, resources (e.g., gloves and syringes), skills and confidence among pharmacists, and hospital structures that disadvantage pharmacy units.

What did the 2021 project in Tanzania do to improve HPS?

The project, sponsored by Action medeor e.V., developed a two-week curriculum to train pharmacists to provide HPS, and trained more than 100 pharmacists from multiple areas and hospitals in selected sites.

Sep 29, 2026

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