FIP’s latest report on pharmacy’s impact on immunisation coverage is now available. A total of 99 countries and territories participated in the survey, making “An overview of pharmacy’s impact on immunisation coverage: a global survey” the most comprehensive report published on this subject to date. The work, which updates a survey conducted by FIP in 2016, evaluates different aspects of pharmacist-led immunisation, including advocacy activities, regulatory frameworks, vaccine administration, reimbursement models, training, vaccination records, and barriers to the expansion of pharmacy practice to include vaccine administration.

Pharmacy-based vaccination is available in at least 36 countries and territories (covering nearly 1.8bn people) and has been proposed or is undergoing development in a further 16, according to the findings. The samples in the 2016 study and this new study are different (45 respondents in 2016), but there is a group of 40 countries and territories in common. In this group, there were 18 countries with pharmacy-based vaccination in 2016 and there are 23 in the 2020 survey, a 28% increase.

“Pharmacists are medicines experts, first-line healthcare providers, and integral members of the healthcare team. Expanding their scope of practice as vaccinators will ultimately further their contributions to public health. I encourage countries currently without pharmacy-based vaccination to work with FIP and its member organisations to organise a strategy leading to the changes necessary towards health for all,” FIP CEO Catherine Duggan said.

Read the report here.