Feasibility and Acceptability of the Use of Community Pharmacies as Service Points for Immunisation in the Accra Metropolitan Area

Abstract

Introduction The purpose of this study was to assess the views of stakeholders such as policy formulators and pharmacists on the introduction of immunisation services using community pharmacies as service points. This is to bridge the gap of the decrease in immunisation coverage currently reported by the Ghana Demography and Health Survey of 2014. The attrition of healthcare staff, which further contributes to this observation, can further be addressed by exploring community pharmacies as service points for immunisation. The current trend of practice globally in reducing vaccine preventable diseases involves the use of immunisation services at community pharmacies, which has not yet been explored in Ghana. The use of non-traditional settings such as community pharmacies for immunisation services has been enabled through policy, guidelines formulation and training for the provision of this service. Methodology This exploratory study used the mixed method involving a qualitative and quantitative approach. The qualitative method involved the use of In-depths Interviews with a developed interview guide with selected policy formulators. The 4 policy formulators were purposively sampled giving four (4) In-depth interviews. Nvivo 10 statistical software was used to analyse the qualitative data, which identified specific themes that helped answer the research question. An adapted structured questionnaire were administered for the quantitative approach with the other population of study, the pharmacists. A sample size of 103 pharmacists were selected using a simple random sampling technique. The quantitative data collected from the questionnaire was analysed using Stata 14 where a linear logistic regression module was used in predicting the acceptability of community pharmacies as immunisation service points. Conclusion The study provided insight into the current position of policy makers and stakeholders on the capacity, readiness and perception of community pharmacies as service points for the provision of immunisation in the Accra Metropolitan Area. It concluded that community pharmacies will be feasible and accepted as alternate service points for immunisations when the policy and training is in place. There was a high willingness of pharmacists to administer vaccines.