OBJECTIVES: To describe the increase in capacity and to compare the level of regional inequality in the access to the program with and without the participation of pharmacies in the NEP. METHODS: The local availability of the NEP was characterized by the number of exchange sites per municipality and by the average number of weekly hours of access per unit of each type of structure (primary healthcare facilities, outreach teams, mobile services and CP). The analysis of access inequality was based on concentration curves of access hours versus population comparing scenarios with and without the participation of CP. The level of regional inequality was measured by the Gini index. RESULTS: We identified 1491 CP, 265 primary healthcare facilities, 256 outreach teams and 2 mobile services participating in the NEP. The average number of weekly hours of access per 1000-inhabitants increases from 130 to 1577 with the inclusion of CP, as a result of having a higher number of exchange sites, covering more municipalities and operating with extended opening hours. CP involvement not only increases total access hours but also substantially reduces the inequality in their regional distribution: with the participation of CP the Gini index for the regional distribution of hours of access improves from 0.7552 to 0.2816. CONCLUSIONS: The community pharmacies’ participation significantly increases access to the NEP and substantially reduces access inequality at the regional level.