According to a review of nine studies, most travellers were very satisfied with pharmacy-based travel health services and accepted pharmacists’ recommendations.

Pharmacists provided travel health services in various places including community pharmacies, a university health centre, a supermarket and an independent clinic. One study was from the UK.

Travel health services provided by pharmacists included pre-travel risk assessment; routine and travel-related vaccination; prescribing or recommending medicines; and offering counselling and advice, including oral and written education. 

Overall, between 94 and 100 per cent of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with pharmacist-managed travel health services. Between 48 and 94 per cent of patients accepted the pharmacist’s recommendations for vaccines and travel-related medications, with most studies reporting an overall acceptance rate of at least 75 per cent. Most patients also accepted pharmacists’ non-pharmacological advice.

“Further efforts are needed to expand the legal scope of pharmacists’ practice, including prescribing rights and authority to provide full pharmacy-managed travel health services,” say the authors.

“This needs to be addressed by additional legislative changes to enable pharmacists to provide the vaccines and medications, and to order laboratory tests more autonomously.” (Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease 2023; 51:102494)