This study aims to assess the opinion of community pharmacists regarding the zoning of community pharmacies in Malaysia. A semistructured qualitative study utilizing face-to-face interviews was conducted among 12 community pharmacists in Penang, Malaysia. Purposive sampling was employed, and data collection was stopped when the saturation point was reached. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were independently coded, and the data was analyzed by ATLAS.ti version 8 using thematic analysis. The respondents generally showed a positive attitude toward zoning policy as they realized the high saturation of pharmacies in urban compared to rural areas. The pharmacists viewed that the high saturation of pharmacies caused price competition that affected the quality of pharmacy services. Besides, the respondents believed that many pharmacists refused to establish their stores in rural areas because of hard to survive in business. Some respondents viewed zoning policy as having the advantage of improving the quality of professional pharmacy services. Conversely, some respondents worried that the zoning policy might decrease competition among pharmacies and lead to market monopoly. Some respondents advocated incentives given by the government to support rural pharmacies and fix the distance between pharmacies based on population density. In conclusion, this study indicated a positive response among community pharmacists toward zoning policy.
Key words: Zoning policy, community pharmacies, community pharmacists, opinions, Malaysia.
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