What the study found
Medicine retailers in Goma appear to share enough common characteristics to be considered a professional group in formation, even though their profiles, training, and trajectories differ. The study describes shared pathways into the work, overlapping ethical orientations, negotiated professional identities, a common role in improving access to healthcare, and similar experiences of economic pressure and weak regulation.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that viewing medicine retailers as a professional group in the making can help explain how access to medicines and care is actually produced in a plural health system. They also suggest this perspective may help move beyond simple formal versus informal distinctions and support regulatory and policy approaches that engage with existing practices and local forms of legitimacy.
What the researchers tested
The researchers conducted a qualitative study based on 24 semi-structured interviews with medicine retailers in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They used an inductive analytical approach informed by the sociology of professions, with descriptive and process coding organized through Evetts’ framework to examine medicine retailers as a professional group in formation.
What worked and what didn't
The findings show that the retailers were heterogeneous in background and training, but still shared several recurring features. The abstract says these common elements included partially shared entry pathways, overlapping ethics, fluid identities, trust-based relations with users, and similar experiences of economic pressure and weak institutional regulation; it also says the study did not find a simple opposition between commercial and healthcare motives, but rather a pragmatic combination of both in everyday practice.
What to keep in mind
The summary available here is limited to the abstract, so detailed limitations are not described. The study is based on interviews in one city, Goma, so the findings are specific to that context as presented in the abstract.
Key points
- Medicine retailers in Goma were described as a professional group in formation despite varied backgrounds.
- Shared features included entry pathways, ethical orientations, professional identities, and trust-based relations with users.
- The abstract says commercial and healthcare motives were pragmatically combined rather than clearly opposed.
- Economic pressure and weak institutional regulation were common experiences among the retailers.
- The study was based on 24 semi-structured interviews using a qualitative, inductive analysis.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Goma medicine retailers share common professional features
- Authors:
- Amandine Oleffe, Jean-Bosco Mbeva Kahindo, Céline Mahieu
- Institutions:
- Université Libre de Bruxelles, Université Officielle de Bukavu, Université libre des Pays des Grands Lacs
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-06
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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