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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is making 10
CDC-recommended immunizations available at pop-up kiosks located at the front
of its stores, the retailer announced. Wal-Mart has signed a contract with
Mollen Immunization Clinics, which manages a registered-nurse network and has
been administering flu shots for the retailer for several years.
“The goal is to take advantage of
the fact these individuals are in our stores shopping for groceries every day.
We want our customers to begin to see us as a destination not just for
nutrition but for preventative health care,” said Dr. John Agwunobi, Wal-Mart’s
president of health and wellness and a former US assistant secretary for
health.
Among the immunizations offered by
Wal-Mart will be those for human papillomavirus, hepatitis, meningitis, and
shingles. Last year, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urged
health care providers to expand the overall use of vaccines against easily
preventable diseases, particularly for adolescents and adults.
States have been prompted by recent
outbreaks of diseases like whooping cough to ease restrictions on what
pharmacists and nurses can administer in retail settings. Wal-Mart joins
Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Inc. in increasing the number of vaccines they
provide.
Bruce Gellin, national vaccine
program office director at HHS, said it will be critical for retailers to share
records with customers’ primary care doctors to avoid vaccine duplication or
unnecessary immunizations. “It’s great they’re providing these services, but
what’s equally important is that information about these services is known by
the patients’ health care providers,” he stressed.
Wal-Mart said it will rely on
patients to provide their own medical histories, and will send patients’
vaccination records to their primary providers electronically upon request.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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