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The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has issued a new policy statement which encourages a "life-course" approach to vaccination by pharmacists. In the statement, published on September 27, FIP backed expansion of vaccine schedules and strategies so that patients of all age groups could be vaccinated throughout their entire lifespan, from infancy to old age. A life-course approach in public health and healthcare focuses on an individual's health and well-being, including vaccination, administered throughout their entire lifespan, from infancy to old age. FIP urged governments and policymakers to eliminate regulatory barriers, enabling pharmacists to prescribe and administer all relevant vaccines throughout the life-course. Additionally, FIP recommended that policymakers develop remuneration models for pharmacies to deliver sustainable life-course vaccination services within the private and public sectors.

The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has offered a new resource to help countries self-assess readiness of their regulations to enable pharmacist-delivered vaccination services and, where needed, to implement such regulations. Developed by FIP's Regulators Advisory Group, it covers broad pharmacist-led roles related to vaccination from supply chain management to administration and prescribing. "This new resource from FIP is based on the experiences of professional regulators in countries where pharmacy-led vaccination has been successfully introduced and regulated. With it, we aim to support regulators, policymakers and national organisations in developing strategies or enabling regulatory frameworks in countries where the pharmacy workforce has a limited role in vaccination strategies so that it can contribute further to the global imperative of improving immunisation coverage," said Brett Simmonds, group chair. The "Pharmacy-led vaccination services: Regulatory self-assessment and implementation tool" aims to help identify strengths and areas for improvement in order to inform vaccination policy and planning efforts.