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Background 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. Method 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. Result 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. Conclusion 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.

The overview summarizes the evaluation of community responses (15 studies, including 11 evaluations carried out in 8 countries). It presents the evaluation questions, the methodology, the key results achieved by community responses along the continuum of prevention, treatment, care and support, and the resulting policy and programmatic implications. Before the scale-up of the international response to the AIDS pandemic, community responses in developing countries played a crucial role in providing services and care for those affected. This study is the first comprehensive, mixed-method evaluation of the impact of that response. The evaluation finds that community response can be effective at increasing knowledge of HIV, promoting social empowerment, increasing access to and use of HIV services, and even decreasing HIV incidence, all through the effective mobilization of limited resources. By effectively engaging with this powerful community structure, future HIV and AIDS programs can ensure that communities continue to contribute to the global response to HIV and AIDS.

Nigeria's participation on issues that related to the position and empowerment of women has been a recurring phenomenon for the past two decades as gleaned from her involvement in national and international conferences on women development since the era of the 1995 Beijing conference. This fact clearly underscores the seriousness of the dilemma women suffer in terms of the promotion of their rights to equal participation and representation in decision making at all levels particularly in the rural society. The paper argued that the context for understanding the position and empowerment of women in rural Nigeria has its primary base on the continued entrenchment and perpetuation of traditional cultures as characteristic of the various stereotypes of women which permeate many ethnic groups in Nigeria. The paper further contend that many women have suffered varied traumatic experiences arising from this categorization which have manifested itself in gender inequality and discrimination that has far reaching implications for the empowerment of rural women in Nigeria. The paper concludes by examining the changes that women's status had undergone in the light of current socio-economic and political development in Nigeria.