Agora a global commons for pharmacy and primary care integration

Join a global community reimagining the role of private pharmacies and drug shops in primary health care

In towns and villages across low- and middle-income countries, when a child has a fever or a mother needs family planning support, the first door people knock on is often not a clinic — it’s the local pharmacy or drug shop. These providers are trusted, accessible, and already delivering essential health services to millions of people every day.

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The gap between what is and what could be

Yet private pharmacies and drug shops remain largely on the margins of national health systems. The gap between what they already do and what they could do — with the right support, connections, and enabling environment — is one of the most underexplored opportunities in global health today.

A growing number of countries and innovators are proving that integration is possible. The question is how to learn from them and support them to move faster and go further in support of universal health coverage goals.

Join the movement working to close that gap

Agora is a global learning initiative dedicated to integrating private pharmacies and drug shops into primary health care systems — and building the community, evidence and momentum to make it stick.

Led by Results for Development and funded by Endless Health, Agora brings together governments, innovators, implementers, global partners, and funders to innovate and share what works. Through real-world experiences, practical strategies, and honest conversations about what’s hard, Agora is building a shared understanding of what’s possible — and together we can translate that into action at scale.

If you believe the pharmacy or drug shop on the corner could be a cornerstone of universal health coverage, this is your community.

Some of the questions driving this work

What does a “good” endpoint model for full integration look like?

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How do we align incentives for government and pharmacies/drug shops to support integration?

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What lessons can be learned from integrating private healthcare providers that could be applied to the integration of pharmacies and drug shops?

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Featured Resources

Community Pharmacies Need a Place in the System

Three insights from the front lines of pharmacy integration

Dr. David Odhiambo, Executive Director of the African Pharmaceutical Network (APN) shares insights from his experience integrating community pharmacies into PHC.

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Five years of investing in inclusive healthcare

Explore five years of lessons on how private capital can expand access to quality healthcare in emerging markets, including the critical role of public-private collaboration, from Investors for Health.

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AI applications in African health supply chains

See how AI is improving forecasting, procurement and inventory management across African health supply chains, including private pharmacies, in this new report from Salient Advisory.

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Private pharmacies as a delivery channel for HIV, TB and Malaria care

A new report from our collaborators at Salient Advisory explores how private pharmacies could help expand access to HIV, TB, and malaria services across 12 countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

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