September 30, 2016.
In France, general practitioners mostly support the vaccination schedule in force. Yet two vaccines still raise many questions, and far fewer are promoting them.
80% of doctors automatically prescribe all recommended vaccines
General practitioners are generally in favor of the French vaccination program. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by the French Society of General Medicine (SFMG) which, for two years, has surveyed 1,069 general practitioners. According to this survey, 9 out of 10 practitioners would be in favor of vaccination. 80% of them also naturally prescribe the vaccines provided for by the French vaccination program.
However, two vaccines are of concern to doctors. Vaccinations against the human papillomavirus (HPV) and that against pneumococci are still questioning practitioners, who are only a quarter to prescribe them.
Towards centralization of patient vaccine data?
While doctors are confident, patients are increasingly suspicious. Faced with these concerns, many doctors (three out of four) say they spend time in discussion with them in order to convince them the benefits of vaccination. On the other hand, only one in two adopt the same approach when it comes to the vaccine against HPV or that against pneumococci.
During this investigation, general practitioners also expressed their difficulties in treating certain patients whose antecedents they cannot necessarily know, in particular in terms of vaccines. To remedy this shortcoming, the SFMG submitted to the Ministry of Health the idea of centralizing the vaccine data of their patients.. General practitioners are also asking the state to fight against very recurring stockouts of vaccines in French pharmacies, which prevent doctors from respecting vaccine schedules.
For more information: Immunization: current ideas and debates
