An appraisal of pharmacists’ involvement in immunization delivery in Lagos State, Nigeria

The perennial problem of low immunization coverage in most developing countries calls for deployment of all available human health resources in order to increase access to life-saving vaccines and to increase immunization coverage. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacists in immunization delivery and to explore barriers to involvement.

A pre- tested self-administered questionnaire was distributed to cross-section of 216 pharmacists working in secondary and tertiary hospitals across Lagos State, Nigeria. Knowledge and attitude scores were expressed as frequency and percentages. The Chi square test was used to explore association between demographic variables and respective scores. A p value of less than 0.05 was regarded as significant.

More than 80% of pharmacists were either very knowledgeable or fairly knowledgeable about vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases. Although there were concerns about regular power supply, resource availability was adequate but involvement in vaccine administration was low. Age and additional qualifications were significantly associated with knowledge of vaccines (X² =18.594, df 4, P value=0.017, X² =13.841, df 4, P value = 0.031 respectively). The major barriers to involvement were concerns about vaccine quality, availability and safety, lack of time, and lack of regular power supply.

Pharmacists’ knowledge on immunization was adequate but involvement in vaccine administration was low. The major barriers to involvement were concerns about vaccine quality, availability and safety. The option of deploying pharmacists for primary care duties, including immunization, appears plausible.