Infant and child immunisation – an increased scope of practice for community pharmacists

Abstract

As a community pharmacist, an additional scope of practice you can perform is to offer the Expanded Programme on Immunisation in South Africa (EPI-SA) within your range of clinic services. This service covers the administration of vaccines to infants and children from birth up to the age of 12 years, and offers immunisation that protects against: pneumonia, meningitis, diarrhoea (caused by rotavirus), measles, TB, polio, whooping cough, diphtheria, liver diseases (caused by Hepatitis B), and tetanus. Besides being an effective and cost-efficient health intervention, it is also a potential growth opportunity and income stream for a community pharmacy.