Letters | If Hong Kong wants to beat manpower crisis in health care, it must call in the pharmacists
- Pharmacists can help shoulder the burden of care by administering flu jabs during flu season and providing advice and care to patients needing medication
- Making the flu vaccine a non-prescription drug and allowing pharmacists to administer it would go a long way
What follows are two concrete examples of how pharmacists can help. With some leadership, these solutions could be adopted in Hong Kong.
One important way to prevent flu is by getting an annual flu vaccine. In many jurisdictions, pharmacists routinely provide flu shots in the pharmacy. This preventive service is very convenient for patients and helps facilitate greater immunisation of vulnerable patients, which can thus reduce doctor and hospital visits.
However, two key barriers currently exist that prevent pharmacists from participating in this public health intervention. First, the influenza vaccine is a prescription drug. Second, there is currently no accepted mechanism for certifying pharmacists to administer injections.
Imagine if these two barriers were addressed, through making the influenza vaccine a non-prescription drug and allowing pharmacists to administer the shot. It is easy to see a future where pharmacists and nurses could set up immunisation clinics in the community, such as workplaces and shopping centres, rather than forcing patients to wait for appointments in hospitals and clinics.
