Addressing gaps in the surveillance and response to influenza-like illness: Community pharmacy-based feasibility study

This project has strong potential to inform local and national preventative measures when integrated with other surveillance systems by:

• Identifying changes in prevalence of circulating illnesses by enabling the surveillance of a disadvantaged population 
• In communities that were disproportionally affected by influenza and SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks, increasing community participation surveillance by offering additional opportunities to participate in surveillance programmes has the potential to detect infection threats sooner, leading to greater opportunities to implement mitigation responses and reduce the burden on the public health system

• Explore the potential to expand the role of pharmacies, particularly in rural or remote regions where access to GP services is limited and areas that do not currently have the access to the GP Sentinel Surveillance programme 
• Increase representation of Māori and Pacific peoples in public health surveillance by building on pharmacist-patient relationships and empowering community driven collaboration. This project will support Māori and Pacific pharmacists and pharmacy students in their research participation as health care leaders.  

This project will support the Aotearoa/New Zealand data that contributes to improving influenza like illnesses surveillance internationally including vaccine development