Ethics education for contemporary clinical pharmacy practice in Africa

The paradigm shift to a patient-centred pharmacy practice model has resulted in dramatic increases in the number and variety of ethical and other dilemmas that confront pharmacists in their routine practice. However, ethical problems may go undetected by many pharmacists in most developing countries. Hence, there is a huge need for sound educational preparation of future pharmacists before they are faced with an urgent decision. This paper highlights the urgent need for pharmacy ethics to be adequately taught in schools of pharmacy, especially at the undergraduate and professional levels, so that future pharmacists can begin their professional careers with adequate ethical knowledge, skills, competencies and experience to detect and resolve ethical dilemmas of the contemporary patient-centred pharmacy practice.