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Monthly Newsletter edited by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network
Civic Activism | Patients' Rights | Consumers' Rights | Support ACN
Year 10th, number 106 - September 2022

SPECIAL EDITION ON VACCINATION POLICY

Highlight

Why we must address vaccine-preventable lung infections this winter
Italy’s experience with pneumococcal vaccination points the way forward in fighting respiratory illnesses. Read the article written by Active Citizenship Network Director and just published on VaccineToday.

Focus

#VaccinAction 2022 Campaign
Did you know that you could take #VaccinAction in 2022 and talk to your healthcare professional today?
 

ACN launched the #VaccinAction2022 raising-awareness communication campaign on the importance of adult vaccination, co-created with the direct involvement of associations and experts from EuPrevent, Asociación Española Contra La Meningitis , The International Longevity Centre (ILC-UK), the Coalition of Organisations patients with chronic diseases in Romania - COPAC , National Patients' Organisation Malta.
Vaccinations are effective and important at any age - they protect people, families, societies and healthcare systems. Diseases such as meningitis, diphtheria, pneumococcal disease, influenza and other vaccine preventable diseases can have serious and potentially long-term consequences.See here the campaign and spread it!

News
Patients' Rights

A first VaccinAction! High Dose Flu vaccine can help better protect older adults: talk with your doctor!
Older adults are among the most vulnerable, due to several age-related factors, to influenza and its related complications: hospitalization due to cardiovascular events and pneumonia, loss of independence and death. Adopting, already developed, assessed and recognized by ECDC (2020 Systematic Report), tailored vaccine can provide protection beyond flu. Discuss with Health Care Professionals the best option for your Flu vaccination!

Towards the next Council conclusions: which role of adult vaccination?”: all the material now available.
Active Citizenship Network (ACN) has held on July 7th this EU Webinar as a follow up to the Annual Meeting of the Coalition for Vaccination, and at the beginning of the Czech Semester, the initiative has allowed discussion of the EU Institutions' commitment to Adult Vaccination: 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 what role adult vaccinations will play in the Conclusions?
The event, hosted by the MEPs Interest Group "
European Patients' Rights & CrossBorder Healthcare, was 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. Hence the communication campaign’s first subject that will be launched soon.
To view the event’s recording click
here

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 Quaggiad.quaggia@activecitizenship.net
- An article has been also published in the medical portal 360medical in Romania.

SymptomSurvey: how patients and caregivers experience and understand different flu-like and COVID symptoms
ACN supports the SymptomSurvey, a collaboration between the Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative and civil/advocacy organisations (Families Fighting Flu, Make Mothers Matter, the European Parents’ Association, Think Young) and the European Academy of Pediatrics. The survey’s goal is to understand better a person’s/patient’s subjective experience of flu-like symptoms and COVID and how this may relate to a person’s willingness to get vaccinated and/or seek treatment to prevent or mitigate symptoms. Completing the questionnaire will take you about 30 minutes, and the obtained insights will be used for informing the healthcare system and improving patients' positions.
Details can be found here.

ACN's involvement in ECDC e-learning course on online vaccine misinformation
How to answer vaccine misinformation online? How to track what is wrong and what is right? The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has developed an e-learning course addressing vaccination misinformation on social media and other digital platforms. The e-learning targets public health practitioners and risk communication experts at the national, regional and local levels in the EU/EEA. ACN has been identified as an expert in the field and therefore involved in the revision process to give insights and comments on the near-final version of the e-learning. Interested?
Please register for the ECDC Virtual Academy and try the course now.
Click here to know more.

ACN’s recommendations on how to improve influenza vaccines supply, forecasting, and demand predictability
The demand for influenza vaccines has been increasing, therefore, anticipating better the need for future seasonal influenza vaccines and taking appropriate measures to prepare for pandemic influenza vaccine’s industrial and delivery capabilities is crucial to secure adequate doses for European citizens and protect them against influenza and serious complications. In this context, an EU Virtual Roundtable Day on Influenza Vaccination was hosted by Members of the European Parliament, Dolors Montserrat (EPP, ES), on 21 September 2021 and ACN was an active participant in the roundtable and gave, its endorsement of the originated recommendations, i.e. the outcomes of experts’ discussions how to improve influenza vaccines supply, forecasting and demand predictability.  
Read the recommendations here.

Cittadinazattiva’s survey on pneumococcal vaccination: little information, territorial discrepancies, lack of monitoring and transparency on coverage. 
Data on vaccination coverage in adults and at-risk groups are not systematically collected, unlike what happens for vaccinations in childhood and adolescence and flu shots. In this context, the offer of pneumococcal vaccination in Italy, as recommended and free, has considerable regional differences in its organization and delivery, with important repercussions on the right to fair and equal access for all citizens. Cittadinanzattiva’s survey on pneumococcal vaccination has involved citizens aged from 18 to 70 years old and general practitioners, and it analyzes how the 2021-2022 flu vaccinations may have favoured the good practice of performing pneumococcal vaccine co-administration in adults at the GP’s office, also investigating citizens’ knowledge and confidence in this vaccine. The report moreover focuses on pneumococcal vaccination for healthy adults aged 65 to adults suffering from chronic diseases or who have predisposing conditions regardless of their age and aims to contribute and present civic proposals for a more effective vaccination strategy on the national territory. You can read some of Cittadanzattiva’s proposals at the dedicated web page (IT), and click here (IT) to learn more about the survey’s results.

AVAT came to life!
The Adult Vaccination Advocacy Toolkit (AVAT), responding to an urgent call from stakeholders and advocacy groups, has come to life also thanks to ACN’s contribution. The toolkit is designed to help build the capacity and capability to influence and shape adult vaccination policy at local, national, and global levels through an evidence-to-action model of engagement across sectors and disciplines.
You can find the Toolkit here.

The role of vaccination in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
The positive impacts of vaccination and vaccination policies in combating the global health threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) were discussed in the framework of the training seminar dedicated to antimicrobial resistance entitled Resistenza antimicrobica: una minaccia globale. Cosa sapere per meglio affrontarla a livello locale” and realized by Active Citizenship Network on 4 July 2022.
The training seminar, held only in Italian language and targeted to Italian leaders of civic and patient associations, and more in general, to all citizens and patients, managed to discuss widely about vaccines as a truly significant tool in the fight against AMR by lowering the risks of acquiring and transmitting resistant microbes and reducing the use of antibiotics.
The event was 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 Observatory and of which Cittadinanzattiva is part through its European branch Active Citizenship Network. The main objective of the project was to increase the empowerment and awareness of citizens and patients on the phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance, among which on its strong relationship with vaccination, in order to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for as long as possible for future generations. To watch the seminar and download the materials, please visit the dedicated webpage.

ACN supports Vaccine Europe’s commitment to addressing vaccination vulnerabilities.
The pandemic has shown both the importance of vaccination and the vulnerabilities of the vaccine ecosystem that lead to a decreased availability of high-quality, safe, and effective products for everyone. Vaccines Europe’s members have analyzed the leading causes of vaccine shortages in Europe and discovered that the diversity of presentations, packs and labels in the EU is one of them.
Therefore, they recommends the adoption of standard EU packaging and an electronic leaflet instead of a printed Patient Information Leaflet. In this way, the contained information would always be up-to-date and available in all EU languages, which would also be more sustainable.
To understand better why E-leaflets would be a solution, click here infographic or watch the video on the vaccine packaging process and how this works in a crisis.

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 specifically on the topics of vaccination.

Addressing the Burden of the Vaccine-Preventable Respiratory Diseases: From the Pneumococcal Vaccination Case Study in Italy to the EU Council Conclusion on (adult) Vaccination”
Last 2 September 2022, Active Citizenship Network published a new manuscript dealing with the significance of adult vaccination entitled “Addressing the Burden of the Vaccine-Preventable Respiratory Diseases: From the Pneumococcal Vaccination Case Study in Italy to the EU Council Conclusion on (adult) Vaccination”on the
SL Vaccines and Vaccination Journal, an international peer-reviewed journal publishing novel fundamental and applied research related to all aspects of vaccines and vaccination. The article examines the growing burden that the trio of vaccine-preventable respiratory diseases (VPRDs), namely pneumococcal pneumonia, Covid-19 and flu, have been placing on healthcare systems among European countries. This is evidenced greatly by the data emerged from the EU survey “Pneumococcal Vaccination in adults: proposals for a fair and informed access”, carried out by Cittadinanzattiva in Italy in the 2021-2022 winter season and presented also at the EU level during the event realized by Active Citizenship Network last 7 July 2022 titled “Towards the next Council conclusions: which role of adult vaccination?”. To read more about the recommendations emerged on the role of adult vaccination in the future EU Council Conlcusions, download the article 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.

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

Bruxelles, 27 September: Advancing equitable rare disease diagnosis and care: How EU health policy can solve existing challenges.
The event, organized by the Federation of European Scleroderma Associations (FESCA), aims to bring together public, private and civil society stakeholders to discuss the results of new evidence collected on the gaps and practices in diagnosis and care of systemic sclerosis as well as the opportunities offered by ongoing health-related legislative proposals in addressing their root-cause. Special attention will be dedicated to the review of Regulation No 141/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council on orphan medicinal products and the Proposal for a Regulation on the European Health Data Space. If you are interested to attend the event, we kindly ask you to register here

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.

11 October 2022 : How to engage stakeholder and lead towards shared goals?
On 11 October 2022, from 9:00 - 11:00, the Collective Leadership Institute, an official partner of Active Citizenship Network, will hold a free online info session on the topic of the art of stakeholder collaboration. The event is targeted to all citizens who work in cross-sector settings or who are generally interested in this topic. The deadline for registration is 10 October 16:00 CET. To register, please click here.

12 October 2022 : EU Flu Day 2022
The EU has had on average low coverage rates for influenza vaccination compared to the WHO 75% target for at-risk groups and health professionals, which was acknowledged as an EU target in the 2009 Council Recommendation on seasonal influenza vaccination. While a few countries are close to reaching the target, coverage rates in others are as low as below 20%, bringing the average figure to 44.3% in Europe. While several European countries took additional measures to try to mitigate the risks of a severe influenza season this winter, which should be highlighted as best practices going forward, the lack of a timely monitoring system of influenza vaccination coverage rates in Europe is making surveillance and progress tracking very difficult. The Steering Group on Influenza Vaccination – in which is officially involved also Active Citizenship Network - is inviting EU and Member State stakeholders to join the third annual EU Flu Day to raise awareness on the need for better protection against seasonal influenza for European citizens and health systems. The event is scheduled next 12 October from 10:00 to 11:30 (CET) at the EU Parliament anmd it will take place in hybrid format. for further information, please contact the Flu Steering Group Secretariat.

18 October 2022: Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum - Energy Efficiency Finance Market Place
The conference (09:00 to 18:00) is organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, Directorate-General for Climate Action, and the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA), in collaboration with the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. The conference will include plenary sessions with high-level representatives from the European Commission, cities and investment community. Projects will present their successful and pioneering initiatives, for example, in encouraging change at local level (sustainable plans and strategies for the energy transition), financing energy efficiency in the public and private sector, and boosting investments in home renovation. The event will bring together cities, industry, and financial institutions to exchange good practices and successful solutions to common challenges. It will also offer plenty of opportunities for networking. Read more
Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship network has been invited to attend the initiative by the DG Energy, in coherence with its long term committment on energy issues and its participation on the EU project “NUDGE”

Amsterdam, 1-3 December 2022: 7th Life Course Summit & 14th Excellence in Pediatric Conference
Active Citizenship network has been invited to speak in the session dedicated to Promoting Life Course Vaccination Strategies as the Basis of Health Systems Resilience Across Europe. It is one of the 5 Vaccine Working Groups taking place on Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd December in Amsterdam and online, in the framework of the Excellence in Pediatrics Annual conference.
Read more:
-
EiP Conference - 14th Edition - Amsterdam and Online 1-3 December 2022
- -7th Life Course Immunisation Summit - Amsterdam and Online 1-2 December 2022 - Working Group pages with the past meeting reports and discussion points are available here.

 


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

To contribute, plase write to: mail@activecitizenship.net
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