Health systems in low- and middle-income countries have focused on managing acute infectious conditions, and pharmacy practices have typically focused on product-centered services rather than patient-centered care. However, these countries are experiencing an increasing burden of chronic communicable and non-communicable diseases, such as HIV and AIDS and cardiovascular diseases. Providing effective long-term care for chronic diseases requires pharmacy practices to strengthen patient counseling and adherence, and bolster linkages among clinical, laboratory, pharmacy, and other services. To respond to this need in pharmacy services, many countries are expanding their pharmacy practice from a model that centers on supplying and dispensing medicines to one that emphasizes the provision of patient-centered pharmaceutical care―and in collaboration with other health care providers―to support the achievement of better health outcomes.
