Assessment of Good Pharmacy Practice Compliance Among Patent Medicine Dealers in Gombe State

Patent medicine dealers constitute the dominant informal pharmaceutical retail channel in North East Nigeria, where access to registered pharmacies remains limited. In Gombe State, PMDs are regulated by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria through the Premises Registration scheme, but the extent of compliance with Good Pharmacy Practice standards in this sector is not well documented. This study assessed GPP compliance among eighty patent medicine dealer premises across urban, peri-urban, and rural settings in Gombe State. A structured GPP assessment tool aligned with PCN guidelines was administered by trained assessors. Parameters evaluated included storage conditions, temperature monitoring, handling of expired medicines, staff training, prescription-only medicine management, and record keeping. Overall GPP compliance was 48%, with rural PMDs performing significantly worse than urban counterparts. Temperature monitoring equipment was absent in 71% of premises. Expired medicines were found in 62% of premises. Prescription-only medicines including antimicrobials and antihypertensives were dispensed without prescription in 85% of audited outlets. Only 22% of PMD staff had received any formal pharmaceutical training. These findings indicate widespread non-compliance with minimum GPP standards among PMDs in Gombe State and call for urgent regulatory intervention, including mandatory training programmes and more frequent premises inspections. Keywords: patent medicine dealers, Good Pharmacy Practice, Gombe State, compliance, pharmaceutical regulation.