Bangladesh has approximately 156,000 licensed medicine shops and 160,000 unlicensed medicine shops totaling 316,000. About 90% (n=284,000) of these medicine shops are community pharmacies. A community pharmacy is a healthcare facility that provides pharmaceutical services to the public. So, there are 16.7 community pharmacies, on average per 10,000 people of Bangladesh. In contrast, in the USA, the number of community pharmacies is 2.1 per 10,000 people, which is close to the global median of 2.5 community pharmacies per 10,000 population (see chart).
If Bangladesh were to strive to reach 4 community pharmacies per 10,000 population, only 68,000 community pharmacies would be needed. Given the ultra-high number of medicine shops in the country, DGDA does not have enough staff to oversee them. If the number of retail shops were reduced to one-third of the current number of 316,000 with equitable distribution, DGDA could better enforce regulations, equitable access, and pharmacy services quality.
