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Monthly Newsletter edited by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network
Civic Activism | Patients' Rights | Consumers' Rights | Support ACN
Year 10th, number 104 - July 2022
Highlight

To virtually attend the event, please click here (registration is free but mandatory)

Focus

Active Citizenship Network (ACN), is glad to invite you to the next EU WebinarTowards the next Council conclusions: which role of adult vaccination?” on 7 July 2022 from 14.30 to 16.00 CEST.
As a follow up to the Annual Meeting of the Coalition for Vaccination, and at the beginning of the Czech Semester, the initiative will allow discussion of the EU Institutions' commitment to Adult Vaccination: within the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union (1 July – 31 December 2022), what weight will the topic of vaccinations have in the Council Conclusions scheduled for December? How the different health stakeholders (civil society, patients, health professionals, experts, and institutions) can work together on this, and in particular what role adult vaccinations will play in the Conclusions?
To help answer these questions, Active Citizenship Network is organizing this multi-stakeholder online event, hosted by the MEPs Interest Group "European Patients' Rights & CrossBorder Healthcare, valuable also to share opinions, experiences and political views on the subject.
The event is realized in the framework of the VaccinAction2022 EU project, focused on supporting the need for strengthening adult vaccination in Europe and – starting from the citizens’ and healthcare stakeholders’ perspective - understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination campaign on the national immunisation plans, protecting the value of the adult immunisation and its gains.
With the occasion, Active Citizenship Network will show its EU communication campaign on Adult Vaccination to be widespread in the second half of the year.

To know more:
· VaccinAction 2022 project web page
· VaccinAction 2021 project web page
· The Engagement of Cittadinanzattiva in vaccination
· For more information, please write to Daniela Quaggia: d.quaggia@activecitizenship.net

Speakers’ list

Vytenis AndriukaitisJorge Batista
Portuguese pharmacist working at the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) as Professional Affairs Advisor, the association that represents Community Pharmacists. A pharmacist by training, he is responsible for the PGEU activities concerning professional related issues and liaising with PGEU members and stakeholders on these topics. Other specific responsibilities include liaison with the European Medicines Agency, with other pharmacy and health professional associations and with parts of the Commission dealing with public health and pharmaceuticals. His main areas of work involve vaccination, development of pharmacy services, pharmacy education and pharmacy practice.

Vytenis AndriukaitisElisa Corritore
Elisa Corritore is Forum Scientific Policy Manager at FEAM, where she oversees the activities of the European Biomedical Policy Forum, bringing together representatives from academia, industry, European and national trade associations, patient, and consumers groups. Following her Master on Cell biology at the university ‘La Sapienza’ of Rome, she worked at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), before starting the doctoral school at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels. Elisa Corritore holds a PhD in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Science and previously worked as a R&D scientist in the private sector in Belgium.

Vytenis AndriukaitisTove Frisch
She holds a PhD focusing on philosophical pedagogy. She wrote many books, both academic and fictional. In ELPA, she is Vice-President and part of the Editorial Team. Also, she is the current President of Riksföreningen Hepatit C – RHC, the Swedish ELPA member. Cured of Hepatitis C, she has been advocating and working to establish contacts and networks to support liver patients in their journeys at the national and international levels. She co-authored the article titled ‘Policy responses to hepatitis C in the Nordic countries: Gaps and discrepant reporting in the Hep-Nordic study’ published in 2018 and among her best contribution in the field of Hepatitis elimination.

Vytenis AndriukaitisMartine Ingvorsen
Martine Ingvorsen has worked for the European Commission since 2012. She is currently employed as a policy officer at the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety and works on vaccination, in particular communication-related aspects of the Commission’s efforts to promote vaccination at EU level.

Vytenis AndriukaitisMargarida Martins
A degree in Pharmacy, specialized in vaccines. She has developed more than sixteen years of experience in the vaccine field. She is currently Vaccines Public Affairs Lead for Europe for Sanofi, in charge of Europe immunization policies and external engagement for Sanofi vaccines portfolio & for transversal topics such as healthy vaccine ecosystem encouraging innovation. In Vaccines Europe (VE) as an active member of the Public Affairs WG, more devoted to Adult Immunization, Influenza vaccination implementation and Immunization financing. In IFPMA she represents VE to strengthen confidence in vaccines.

Vytenis AndriukaitisPatrick Swain
Patrick Swain is Research and Projects Officer for ILC. Since November 2021, he has been working on secondment as a Coordinator for the Coalition for Life-course Immunisation (CLCI). At CLCI, Patrick helps to oversee the research and engagement work of the organisation, producing policy reports and engaging with European stakeholders such as patient charities, MEPs and European Commission delegates. He also coordinates CLCI and ILC's alliance work, helping to strengthen the adult immunisation work of ILC and its European engagement work through the network at CLCI.


Vytenis AndriukaitisMarie-Christine Truchet
Director, Global Vaccines Public Affairs, at PFIZER inc. In her role, Marie leads the Global (ex USA) Public Affairs strategy for Pfizer vaccines. She represents Pfizer in International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) vaccines Committee. Since 2001, she worked in different positions of increasing responsibilities in Strategic marketing, Market Access, and Policy. Marie was trained as a chemical engineer and has master‘s degrees in business administration and finance.


Vytenis AndriukaitisMariano Votta
Mariano Votta is responsible for EU Affairs of the Italian NGO Cittadinanzattiva and the Director of its EU branch called “Active Citizenship Network” (ACN). Mariano has over 20 years of experience in advocacy, stakeholder engagement, European projects, communication, and civic information.


News
Patients' Rights

2022 European Patient Digital Health Awards PDHA Call for Applications is now live!
The pdha.eu website is now officially ready to receive all of the innovative and exciting digital health solutions for improving care and quality of life for patients and their caregivers that participants will submit! The window for the Call for Applications has been activated on 7 June at 11.00 pm CET and will remain open until 6.00 pm CET on 8 July. Winners will be announced at the European Pdha 2022 Virtual Award Ceremony on 10 November from 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm CET, and for the second year in a row, Active Citizenship Network is involved in the Jury. To apply click here.

To know more:
- PDHA'S origins and mission

Advanced Therapies Medicinal Products: the ACN webinar and next steps
If you missed the EU training seminar “ATMPs revolution: empowering leaders of EU civic and patients’ advocacy groups” here you can find the recording link and all the documents related to the #VITA project (Value and Innovation of Advanced Therapies), including the presentations of the speakers: prof. Andrea Grignolio, prof. Andrea Cicchetti and Leire Solis from IPOPI.
The training dealt with three main topics:
- ATMPs: a paradigm shift for patients, public decision-makers, and healthcare systems
- The ATMPs as an investment: addressing the public budget and sustainability issues
-
The PAGs perspective.
It was also followed by 96 people coming mainly from 37 civic and patient associations from Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Congo, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Italy, Kenya, Lithuania, Malta, Netherland, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States; but also from the world of healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. The next steps of the #VITA project are a call to action to raise awareness among civic associations and policymakers about the importance of access to ATMPs. Furthermore, an institutional public event is planned for the autumn of 2022 within the framework of the European Parliament.

To join the call to action or be updated on the event at the European Parliament write to m.durso@activecitizenship.net.

Networking News

Media partnerships
Active Citizenship Network keeps growing, and not only in European Union. In this newsletter we are going to report a series of officially media partnerships, which testify a growing interest in our work on the one hand, and - on the other hand - our willingness to collaborate in synergy with actors who pursue common purposes.

Syncsci Publishing
Over the last years, ACN has established a media partnership with Syncsci Publishing, a company dedicated to publishing high quality articles that provide innovative and scientific research findings to scholars worldwide. ACN and Synsci have agreed on the opportunity to work together in a media partnership to support initiatives that educate citizens, patients, physicians, and relevant stakeholders, and to submit potential manuscripts on the topic of public health and the aspects related to it, including, but not only, vaccination, NCDs, chronic pain.
In order to carry out these activities, Active Citizenship Network has established an agreement in particular with the following three peer-reviewed international journals: Advances in Health and Behavior (AHB), an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes empirical and theoretical articles dedicated to topics of healthcare and illness; Resources and Environmental Economics (REE) , an international peer-reviewed journal to discuss, analyze and evaluate the trend of resources economics and environmental economics; Health and Environment (HE), an open access, continuously published, international, refereed  journal aiming to analyze and introduce the relationship between environment and health from different angles and levels.

Geneft
The media partnership between Active Citizenship Network and Geneft, an online global open access publication company encouraging innovative and original works primarily in the area of health and medicine, was established to facilitate the exchange of good practices on the issues that are pertinent to them and to support each other’s activities at the European and international level in common areas of interest.
In particular, the agreement was formalized with the following three peer-reviewed international journals: Clinical Cardiology Updates (CCU), a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that considers articles on all facets of the heart and cardiovascular system, concentrating specifically on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management; Epidemiology and Public Health Research (EPHR), focusing on research and reports discussing about public health, epidemiology and progress that have been made to enhance societies' healthcare internationally; Cancer Research & Development (CRD), an international open-access journal that serves as a scholarly forum to publish high-quality research papers on recent developments in cancer science and research by scientists, researchers, and other health professionals.

Health Europa
Active Citizenship Network has formalized a new media partnership with Health Europa Quarterly, a publication established in 2017 and committed to highlighting the latest trends and developments in health and healthcare from across Europe. ACN and Health Europa work closely together with the aim to disseminate and spread awareness on common interests and to support each other on initiatives carried out in the area of health and healthcare.

Innovation News Network
Active Citizenship Network has established a media partnership with Innovation News Network, a publication dedicated to innovation & sustainability all around Europe and worldwide in different fields including environment, energy, mobility, health. Active Citizenship Network and Innovation News Network have agreed to become media partners in order to collaborate on issues pertinent to them and disseminate relevant content covering common fields to help keep Europe’s citizens informed.

Recent publications

In the past months, Active Citizenship Network has published several articles on different international peer review journals, healthcare specialized media and generalist journals. The articles listed below are focused on the topics of vaccination, therapeutic adherence, chronic conditions starting from the burden of cardiovascular diseases, and the role of caregivers.

“Isolated but not alone: the response to the pandemic in the story of PAGs from the Italian case history to the Global Health Summit “Rome Declaration”
As part of this long-standing partnership with Advances in Health and Behavior (AHB), Active Citizenship Network has recently published, last May 2022, the article "Isolated but not alone: the response to the pandemic in the story of PAGs from the Italian case history to the Global Health Summit “Rome Declaration”". In occasion of the Global Health Summit held in Rome last May 21, 2021, the article analyzed the condition of chronic and rare patients during the Covid-19 pandemic through the findings emerged from the XVIII National Report on Chronic Policies of Cittadinanzattiva, presented on October 13th, 2020, and entitled: "Isolated but not alone: the response to the pandemic in the story of Patients Advocacy Groups (PAGs)". To download the article, click here.

Addressing the Challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Routine Vaccinations across Europe: Focus on Flu Vaccination”
Last 22 April 2022, Active Citizenship Network has published an article entitled Addressing the Challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Routine Vaccinations across Europe: Focus on Flu Vaccination” on the International Journal of Virology & Infectious Diseases, an international, peer reviewed, open access, scholarly journal that brings about latest research in all related aspects of virology and infectious diseases. The published manuscript discusses about the challenges of dealing with the concomitant deployment of COVID-19 and influenza vaccination, exploring the results emerged from the II EU online survey, realized in October-November 2021 by Active Citizenship Network in the framework of its #VaccinAction2021 EU project entitled “Protecting the value of vaccination during - and after - the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe: impact, experiences and perspectives from citizens’ and patients’ advocacy groups & relevant stakeholders”. To download the article, click here.

Encouraging Across Europe the Civic & Patient Advocacy Groups’ Engagement in The Implementation of National Resilience and Recovery Plans to Reduce the Burden of Covid-19 Pandemic on NCDs Patients’ Therapeutic Adherence
Active Citzenship Network has recently published, on 11 April 2022, a new manuscript dealing with the topic of therapeutic adherence entitled “Encouraging Across Europe the Civic & Patient Advocacy Groups’ Engagement in The Implementation of National Resilience and Recovery Plans to Reduce the Burden of Covid-19 Pandemic on NCDs Patients’ Therapeutic Adherence”on the International Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health Research, a peer-reviewed journal that encompasses all aspects of epidemiology and community health. The article examines the data emerged from the EU civic survey “The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on non-communicable  and  chronic patients’ therapeutic adherence across Europe”, conducted by ACN in the second half of 2021, which show the inadequate attention of institutions and the main stakeholders in relation to access and continuity of care for non-Covid-19 patients. To download the article, click here.

"Supporting Non-Communicable Disease Patients in Time of The Covid-19 Pandemic: From Motivating Them to Qualifying the Role of Their Caregivers"
Active Citizenship Network has published in March 2022 a manuscript entitled "Supporting Non-Communicable Disease Patients in Time of The Covid-19 Pandemic: From Motivating Them to Qualifying the Role of Their Caregivers"on the international peer-reviewed Journal of Women Health Care and Issues, that aims to publish scholarly articles describing clinical examinations, investigative studies and practices related to etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. In this context, the article published by ACN explores the impact of the pandemic on patients suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCDs). More in particular, the article discusses about the role of caregivers across Europe as invisible actors who informally help patients in the shadow, with considerable expenditure of physical and mental energy. To download the article, click here.

Prevention and Care of Cardiovascular Diseases during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Will the National Resilience and Recovery Plans help in reducing its burden?”
As part of its long-standing partnership with Clinical Cardiology Updates (CCU), a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that considers articles on all facets of the heart and cardiovascular system, Active Citizenship Network has recently published, on 25 January 2022, a manuscript dedicated to the topic of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) entitled Prevention and Care of Cardiovascular Diseases during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Will the National Resilience and Recovery Plans help in reducing its burden?”. The article examines the collateral damage of Covid-19 on CVDs, addressing in particular the importance of care and prevention of CVDs at the local and national levels, through the National Resilience and Recovery Plans, and at the EU level, advocating on the newly formed “European Alliance for Cardiovascular Health” (EACH). To download the article, click here.

The National Recovery & Resilience Plans According to Citizens’ Perspective: From the Italian Case History to the XVI European Patients’ Rights Day
Last 10 January 2022, Active Citizenship Network has published a new article entitled “The National Recovery & Resilience Plans According to Citizens’ Perspective: From the Italian Case History to the XVI European Patients’ Rights Day” on the international peer-reviewed journal Clinical Research and Clinical Trials, which publishes original research, reports, editorials, reviews and commentaries on all aspects of pharmaceutical, clinical trials, researches and related medical research methodologies. The newly published manuscript discussed about the significance of the engagement and empowerment of all European citizens, Patients' Advocacy Groups (PAGs), citizens organizations involved in healthcare issues and, more generally, to all actors that promote health as a common good, as a way to improve the health system. More in particular, the article focuses on the promotion of civic participation in the drafting and implementation process of National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs). To download the article, click here.

Influenza vaccination at the time of Covid-19: From the Italian case history to the “EU Flu Day”
In the framework of the media partnership with Epidemiology and Public Health Research (EPHR), a journal focused on research and reports discussing about public health, epidemiology and progress that have been made to enhance societies' healthcare internationally, Active Citizenship Network has published, last December 2021, a manuscript entitled “Influenza vaccination at the time of Covid-19: From the Italian case history to the “EU Flu Day”, discussing about how the national (Italian) and European contexts managed the administration of flu vaccination during the Covid-19 pandemic. To do this, the article puts forward the results emerged from the civic survey on the supply of flu vaccine doses conducted by Cittadinanzattiva in September 2020 across Italy and introduces the second EU survey entitled "Addressing the challenges of concomitant deployment of COVID-19 and influenza vaccination" launched by ACN on the occasion of the EU Flu Day 2021. To download the article, click here.


Events

4 July 2022: Online training seminar on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
Active Citizenship Network is glad to invite you on 4 July 2022, from 16:30 to 18:30 CEST to an online training seminar on Antimicrobial Resistance targeted to the Italian leaders of civic and patient associations, citizens, relevant stakeholders interested in the issue. For this reason, the seminar will be realized only in Italian language, without any translation.
The event is realized in the framework of the EU project AMR Patient Alliance – developing educational repository for patient and caregiver awareness of drug resistant infections promoted by IAPO P4PS Observatoryand of which Cittadinanzattiva is a part through its European branch Active Citizenship Network. It will consist of a 2-hour training seminar on the topic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The main objective is to combat disinformation on the abuse of antibiotics, which represents one of the main global health threats according to WHO; to emphasize the necessity of a good doctor-patient relationship for an appropriate use of antibiotics; to discuss about the relationship between AMR and new vaccination policies, also exploring the new National Plan to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance (PNCAR) which is being drafted in Italy; to increase the empowerment and awareness of citizens and patients on the phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance and advocate for an increased activism of citizens and patients associations to the issue. To register, please click here. To know more about the programme, please click here (IT language).

To know more:
-
Visit the webpage of the AMR Patient Alliance project (EN - IT)
-
The commitment of Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network on the topic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

Bruxelles, 29 September 2022: Towards energy aware behaviours: how studies on young generations can inform better policy design
In the framework of the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) that will take place from 26 to 30 September in Bruxelles with a hybrid format, the NUDGE consortium – in which Cittadinanzattiva is officially involved - is organizing a session from 09:30 to 11:00 togheter with the sister EU H2020 projects ENCHANT, DECIDE and WHY.
The speakers will join a panel of policymakers, youth and consumer representatives focusing on how to design policies that can favour a large-scale change in how we produce and consume energy and how to include youth in energy policies at various levels. To register, click here.

 


Director and Editor in chief: Mariano Votta
Editors: Daniela Quaggia, Bianca Ferraiolo, Maira Cardillo, Maddalena D'Urso, Ginevra Varallo
Coordination and Production: Giacomo D'Orazio 

To contribute, plase write to: mail@activecitizenship.net
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Active Citizenship Network c.o. Cittadinanzattiva - Via Cereate 6 - 00183 Roma - Tel. +39 6 367181 - Fax +39 6 36718333
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Tel: (+39) 340 84 65 097 Mail: brussels@activecitizenship.net