Peter Thokozani Phiri is passionate about training pharmacy assistants in Malawi. As a pharmacist and lecturer at St. Josephs’ College of Health Sciences in Chiladzulu district he knows first-hand the critical role a pharmacy assistant plays in ensuring health products are available when and where they are needed.
In 2013, VillageReach in partnership with the Malawi Ministry of Health (MoH) introduced the Pharmacy Assistant (PA) Training Program to train dedicated staff in medicine management to support pharmacists like Peter, allowing them to provide more responsive primary health care services to patients. Now in partnership with LEARN Logistics by the Kühne Foundation, VillageReach and the MoH are working with health training institutions like St. Josephs’ College of Health Sciences to enhance the PA program curriculum to include supply chain management and logistics.
“It is always insightful and inspiring to be part of the effort to review and to strengthen the PA training curriculum,” said Peter.
At St. Josephs’ College of Health Sciences, Peter trains pharmacy technicians and nurse midwife technicians. His efforts to enhance the PA program curriculum are not only shaping the future of the human resources for health but also contributing to the professional development of the supply chain workforce in Malawi. The new curriculum is tailored to address critical knowledge gaps among Malawi health workers in the areas of health logistics and supply chain management. By incorporating this coursework into the PA curriculum, PAs will have the necessary skills to properly distribute, store and dispense medicines.
“[The new curriculum] is based on the needs assessment and gaps identified, including through the collaboration with VillageReach, Learn Logistics by Kuehne Foundation, the MoH’s Health Technical Support Services (HTSS) department, Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority (PMRA) and others, to guide effective health supply chain implementation and to benefit underreached communities,” said Peter.
Pharmacy Assistants Enhancing Care
Since 2013 over 2000 graduates have completed the PA program in seven institutions across Malawi. PA graduates make an immediate impact upon graduation. Their training enables them to ensure good practices, such as accurate labeling of pill packs, optimizing inventory management, promoting rational prescription practices, implementing proper medicine disposal and waste reduction methods.
Once the enhanced curriculum goes into effect, directors of health services throughout Malawi will anticipate each new cohort of PA students joining their teams. These new cohorts will come to health facilities equipped with comprehensive knowledge in areas like pharmacology, pharmaceutics and supply chain management. PAs play a vital role in improving the overall functionality and efficiency of health care delivery in their communities, and strengthening their skillset also helps pharmacists like Peter have more support and better work-life balance. As a husband and a father who is passionate about this work, having trained PAs with supply chain skills is better for everyone involved.
Looking ahead, Peter also draws inspiration from practices in other countries like Ethiopia, where he mentions that multiple pharmacy personnel—often three to four pharmacy professionals—collaborate to manage medicines and medical supplies effectively and efficiently at health facilities. This model serves as a guiding example for Malawi, which is increasingly recognizing the value of having pharmacy personnel with supply chain skills in health facilities. By enhancing service delivery through a greater number of skilled pharmacy personnel, Malawi is on a promising path toward supply chain professionalization, improving primary health care responsiveness and ultimately leading to better health outcomes.
Watch this video The Pharmacy Assistants of Malawi to learn more.