Perceptions of community pharmacists, patent and proprietary medicine vendors, and their clients regarding quality of family planning services: The IntegratE Project

The IntegratE Project is a four-year initiative (2017–21) implemented by the Population Council and partners that seeks to increase access to contraceptive methods by involving the private sector (community pharmacists [CPs] and patent and proprietary medicine vendors [PPMVs]) in family planning (FP) service delivery in Lagos and Kaduna States, Nigeria. The project aims to establish a regulatory system with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria to ensure that CPs and PPMVs provide quality FP services, comply with FP regulations, and report service statistics to the Health Information Management System (HMIS). To achieve this, the project is implementing: a pilot three-tiered accreditation system for PPMVs; a supervisory model to ensure standard drug-stocking practices; building the capacity of CPs and PPMVs to provide a wider range of FP services and data report to the HMIS. This brief focuses on quality of care received by women voluntarily seeking FP services from CPs and PPMVs. CPs and PPMVs and their clients appear to be satisfied with the FP services offered by CPs and PPMVs; on-going learning opportunities, and a supportive supervision system that is properly coordinated should be sufficient to maintain the quality of services offered by CPs and PPMVs.