THE Pharmacy Guild of Australia's Tasmanian Branch President, John Dowling (pictured), has called upon the Australian Government to introduce consistency in the availability of influenza vaccine throughout the country to help manage this year's "flu crisis".
Currently, community pharmacies in Victoria were covered under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) while trials of access to NIP vaccines through community pharmacies were underway in Western Australia and the ACT, Dowling said.
"The success of the program in Victoria and the trials to date indicate that community pharmacies offer a valuable service in providing NIP vaccines to eligible people."
People eligible under the NIP include: those six months and over with certain medical risk factors, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people six months and over, those 65 years-plus and pregnant women.
Dowling said that the present situation, where some pharmacies were experiencing shortages of vaccine stocks, had to be addressed, and having NIP vaccines available through pharmacies in all States and Territories was a solution.
"The NIP has access to vaccine stocks, and in emergencies where stocks run very low, priority is given to ensuring NIP supply is maintained.
"This is quite fitting as the NIP is aimed at ensuring vulnerable groups throughout Australia are protected against disease.
"But where private stocks are running low there becomes a question of equitable access to potentially life-saving vaccines.
"I call on the Tasmanian Government to move quickly to ensure NIP vaccines are available through pharmacies in Tasmania as a matter of urgency," Dowling concluded.
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