GPs must be at the heart of immunisation implementation plan
The Australian Medical Association welcomes the release of the National Immunisation Strategy 2025-30, but calls on the federal government to ensure the implementation plan includes support and resources for general practitioners to continue playing a lead role in immunisation efforts.
AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said the new strategy comes at a crucial time in Australia with a decline in immunisation rates, partly caused by a rise in anti-vaccine views and misinformation spread on social media.
“We strongly support the strategy’s key focus of building trust, understanding and acceptance of immunisation, as well as combatting misinformation,” Dr McMullen said.
“Trust in health providers and governments was challenged during the Covid pandemic, and we are still seeing the lingering effects of this, as immunisation rates, particularly among children, continue to fall.
“Immunisation has saved more than 150 million lives worldwide over the past 50 years, and Australia has remained a leader by global standards, but there is absolutely no room for complacency — we must ramp up efforts to bring our immunisation rates back to where they should be, because lives depend on it.”
Dr McMullen said it was disappointing the role of general practitioners was hardly mentioned in the strategy, considering they provide the majority of vaccinations in Australia and are a trusted source of immunisation information.
“When we are dealing with the issue of misinformation and vaccine hesitancy, general practitioners are the best placed to discuss any concerns with patients,” Dr McMullen said.
“One of the biggest parts of being a GP is remaining informed of your patients’ medical history, so they can easily provide trusted advice based on individual circumstances.
“We understand the implementation plan for this strategy is yet to be released, but we will be strongly advocating for further support and resources for GPs to continue playing this leading role.”
The AMA notes the strategy’s focus on expanding the immunisation workforce including through community pharmacies — something that is already happening. However, to date we have no evidence it is helping to improve rates of immunisation. Novel immunisation programs and funding need robust evaluation and monitoring to ensure they are effective and coordinated.
General practice has played a key role in driving rates of immunisation in Australia, and as policy makers increasingly overlook this, it is no coincidence rates of immunisation are falling. The role of GPs not only in delivering immunisations but in coordinating immunisation of their local communities is critical.
“We will continue to call for increased investment in the Workforce Incentive Program to support multidisciplinary teams in general practice to improve access to care in general practice, including immunisation services,” Dr McMullen said.
