Kilimanjaro School of Pharmacy (KSP) was established in September 2002 with the enrollment of eight students (8) following the permission granted by the then, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to conduct a two years course in Pharmaceutical Sciences which lead to the award of Pharmaceutical Assistants Certificates to her graduates. The school is owned by the Saint Luke Foundation (SLF) which is a Trust of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT). The idea of establishing the KSP came through experience learned during supportive supervision visits to hospitals under ELCT -infusion units project (IUP) in many Faith-Based hospitals performed by Pharmacists from IUP. During these visits, they found that many hospitals under IUP, mostly situated in the rural area in Tanzania had no trained pharmaceutical personnel to carry out duties and responsibilities of qualified pharmaceutical personnel (i.e. Pharmaceutical Assistants, Pharmaceutical Technicians & Pharmacists) as set out in the Pharmacy Regulations by the Pharmacy Council of Tanzania.
In the year 2009, the school was granted permission to conduct three years course in Pharmaceutical sciences leading to the award of the Ordinary Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences to her graduates till to date. The school is legally recognized by the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MOHCDGEC and fully registered (REG/HAS/074) and accredited by the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) with Certificate no. SN 1997 053 since 2009 to conduct training in Pharmaceutical Sciences at National Technical Award (NTA) Level 5 (Technician Certificate in Pharmaceutical Sciences) and 6 (Ordinary Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences) respectively pursuant to the provisions of Act No. 9 of 1997 of the United Republic of Tanzania. Starting from an enrolment of eight (8) students in 2002, the school has since then grown both in size and stature.
Its admission/enrolment capacity has grown from 8 to 150 students per year for NTA levels 5 and 6 respectively. The school also enrolls in-service/ upgraders with NTA level 5 Technician Certificate in Pharmaceutical Sciences to study one (year) programme leading to the award of Ordinary Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences (NTA level 6). Apart from training pharmaceutical personnel with a focus on community and hospital pharmacy, the school has facilities for Industrial Pharmacy Teaching Unit (IPTU) for training in-service and postgraduate level students as well as for carrying out research and development in pharmaceutical production. With these facilities, the school has demonstrated its capacity to play an important role in improving the quality of locally produced pharmaceuticals. In regards to this, the school has signed a Memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with various Universities and Colleges within and outside the country which offer pharmaceutical sciences training. Through IPTU, our students and those from other Universities and Colleges have an opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills with regards to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), formulation development and manufacturing, regulatory and compliance issues, and to explore careers in these exciting areas in the pharmaceutical industry.