ECDC contributes to discussions on hesitancy and sustainable policies for vaccination at EU High-level workshop

ECDC’s Acting Director, Dr Andrea Ammon, who is facilitating the first session on vaccine hesitancy, said: “As the widespread use of vaccines has grown and disease rates have gone down, anxiety around vaccine safety and their regulation has increased”. She continued, “ECDC directly supports countries in strengthening the role of healthcare professionals, who remain the most trustworthy source of information for patients”. 

Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, will point out that "Within the EU, there are ongoing measles and rubella outbreaks and we are even exporting measles to other parts of the world. This can and must be stopped! Vaccine hesitancy is without a doubt one of the key challenges as regards low acceptance and uptake in a number of EU countries, and it must be tackled head on”.

Between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017, 30 EU/EEA Member States reported 6 597 cases of measles. In the 12-month period, the highest number of cases was reported by Romania (3 072), Italy (1 314) and Germany (711), accounting respectively for 47%, 20% and 11% of the EU/EEA cases. In the first three months of 2017, a total of 2 480 cases were observed; in comparison, a total of 530 cases were reported in the first three months in 2016. In the first three months of 2017 the countries contributing to the majority of cases were Romania (749), Italy (684) and Germany (411).

ECDC’s Chief Scientist, Mike Catchpole, will participate in the second session on sustainable vaccines policies in the EU. He will stress the importance of maintaining high vaccination coverage rates, guaranteeing equal access to vaccination, strengthening national immunisation programme monitoring and optimising vaccination calendars.

Interested parties are invited to follow the workshop via web streaming​ and/or to join the conversation on Twitter (#VaccinesEU).

Follow us on Twitter: @ECDC_VPD, @ECDC_EU (#VaccinesEU)

Information on ECDC’s work in the area of vaccine hesitancy:

• ​ECDC’s focus is to provide information about hesitant populations in order that public health can be better informed about the nature of their concerns, and respond appropriately by developing timely, targeted and evidence-based strategies.
• In addition the ECDC directly supports countries in strengthening the role of healthcare professionals, which remain the most trustworthy source of information for patients, so as to empower them to become effective advocates of vaccination. Currently there are ongoing projects in Austria and Italy.
• The new ECDC catalogue of interventions to address vaccine hesitancy offers a collection of 40 interventions developed in various countries around the world in order to measure and address vaccine hesitancy. It showcases examples of practices that can serve as a bank of ideas and be adapted according to national and local needs and strategies. 
• For example, a web based decision aid to empower parents to make informed decisions about vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella consists of a step-by-step guide including frequently asked questions and answers, numerical and graphic data comparing the potential risks of the MMR vaccine with the potential risks of contracting disease.