Stakeholders’ perspectives on involvement of community pharmacists in vaccine delivery services and implications for policy reform in Nigeria

Abstract

Vaccination has proven to be one of the most potent ways of achieving disease prevention and consequently reducing the number of global deaths due to diseases. As a result, vaccination coverage must be prioritised in public health. Community pharmacists are pitched as critical to reaching broader vaccination coverage in Nigeria due to their position as one of the most accessible healthcare professionals in the country. However, the factors affecting the involvement of these professionals as vaccine administrators have not been adequately established. This study was thus conducted as a collaborative action qualitative research via the interview of regulatory and professional stakeholders to ascertain this involvement and propose steps to be taken towards the progress of integrating the pharmacists into immunisation programmes. The study results showed that while pharmacists do not face direct restrictions when administering vaccines, they are not enabled to do so by law. Also, pharmacists’ uptake of the vaccine administrator role would benefit the Nigerian health system, and efforts are geared toward officially incorporating pharmacists. To this end, the government's support via funding and policymaking is solicited for better outcomes.