Building linkages between private pharmacies and primary care to improve treatment of diabetes and hypertension in an urban city of Nepal: A protocol for implementation research study

Rapid urbanisation is impacting health behaviours and contributes to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and hypertension. As primary care services are overstretched, urban residents rely on pharmacies, creating an urgent need to implement evidence-based approaches such as the World Health Organization’s Package of Essential Non-communicable Diseases (PEN) to reach low-income households at risk of hypertension and diabetes.

This protocol paper outlines the CHORUS study in Nepal which aims to identify the facilitators and barriers to the adoption, implementation, and long-term delivery of strategies to link pharmacies with public facilities in Pokhara Metropolitan City, to improve diabetes and hypertension prevention and management among poor urban populations.

Read the full article here: Building linkages between private pharmacies and primary care to improve treatment of diabetes and hypertension in an urban city of Nepal: A protocol for implementation research study 

Shrestha, G., Joshi, D., Elsey, H. et al. Arch Public Health 83, 160 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-025-01586-4