Civil Society promoting vaccination across the life-course: new EU project launched!
Active Citizenship Network is happy to share with you all the activities of a new EU project focused on continuing to support strengthening adult vaccination in Europe. The idea is to enhance the collaboration with different healthcare players and the importance of community confidence on the value of immunization, always involving citizens’ and patients’ associations across Europe to learn more about and implement vaccination policies. With the involvement of key experts, tailored focus groups will be realized in Italy, France and Spain, to dicuss the importance of life course vaccination, including lessons learned from Covid-19, barriers to vaccine access, options to choose between different vaccines and possible changes to the annual vaccination calendar.. Read more

SAVE THE DATE -14th September 2023: EU online training seminar on Adult Vaccination, join us!

Register here (registration is free but mandatory)

As part of the European project #VaccinAction2023, Active Citizenship Network is pleased to invite you on 14 September 2023, from 15:00 to 17:00 CEST, to the online event entitled "Healthy living, healthy ageing: the burden of VPDs in the European adult population - what if we do nothing?".
Vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) are diseases caused by bacteria and viruses that can be prevented with vaccines.
The initiative will consist of a free 2-hour training seminar open to civic and patient association leaders from different countries to address - with the support of independent experts - the need to be more up-to-date and prepared to support and protect the value, in particular, of adult immunisation and its benefits for individual and public health protection.
Save your place here!
To find out more about ONLINE training, write to Daniela Quaggia. To learn more about Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network's commitment to immunisation, click here.

Personalised prevention Stakeholder Forum and expert consultation: Join us!
Interested in Personalized Prevention? In the framework of the Horizon Europe project "PROPHET" aimed at developing a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for the implementation of Personalised Prevention approaches, Active Citizenship Network thinks you would be a fantastic member of our expert Stakeholder Forum and we would like to invite you to become part of it. This PROPHET Forum is the structure through which PROPHET engages with external stakeholders and collects their input on main project outcomes, namely the SRIA which will get European-wide visibility. As a first consultation step, we would also like to invite you to participate in an online survey that will aim to map the barriers, challenges, and enablers for adopting personalised preventive approaches in Health systems in Europe. Please take a look at the additional information here and join us!

A new information guide for citizens on Covid, Long Covid and Frailty. Let's keep our attention high! 
The Be AWARE initiative promoted by Cittadinanzattiva aims to promote information and raise awareness among the general population about the still existing risks for people with frailty or specific conditions to develop severe forms of COVID-19.
It is important to let people know which conditions and diseases are most at risk of developing severe forms of COVID-19, what to do when the first symptoms appear and how to access treatment for this disease.
Among the effects the disease can leave behind is 'Long COVID'. It is essential to pay attention to the 'warning signs' and seek immediate medical advice.
With this aim, we produced a guide entitled 'Covid, Long Covid and Frailty. Let's keep our attention high!", which contains useful information and advice for citizens. Inside the guide: updates on the use of masks, information on vaccinations also for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children, and a section dedicated to pharmacological treatment and prophylaxis for frail patients. 
Read more and download the guide here

Let’s endorse the “Recommendations on Covid-19 Patient Pathways: Addressing high-risk patients’ unmet needs and challenges”
Active Citizenship Network calls for endorsement of the "Recommendations on Covid-19 Patient Pathways", drafted together with experts and PAGs coordinated by RPP Group, and drafted in coherence with Active Citizenship Network engagement in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and with new recent initiatives started at the EU level titled “Protecting the value of access to care during - and after - the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe: focus on antivirals” and “Improving health literacy for better public and patient involvement in COVID-19 pandemic mitigation”.
Informally, the Recommendations have been recently discussed in Brussels in May, here more details, with some EU umbrella organizations, while the official presentation at the EU level expected to take place in the EU Parliament by the end of 2023.
Through these recommendations, we aim to expose the current challenges and barriers related to COVID-19 for high-risk groups and pave the way to improve patient care pathways. The goal of the document is to support policymakers in their efforts to ensure that patients can meet their medical needs - while promoting better education among healthcare professionals and reinforcing the need to further strengthen the preparedness of national healthcare systems.  To download the document click here, for endorsement please write to: brussels@activecitizenship.net.

It is Time for an EU Strategy for Women’s Health
Active Citizenship Network is glad to officially endorse the “Manifesto for Women's Health” drafted by the European Institute of Women’s Health (EIWH), an association who advocates for women’s health and gender equality across the healthcare continuum. EIWH calls on the EU to commit to the reduction of health inequalities and provide equitable health for all women, through the provision of an EU Strategy for Women’s Health.
In particular, the Manifesto outlines the key priorities for improving the health and wellbeing of women across the life-course, including: a) tackling the pay and pension gap; b) international collaboration on women’s health; c) implementing the Work-Life Balance Directive; d) supporting the implementation of the Clinical Trials Regulation, among other key areas. To know more, click here and here.

Citizens’ engagement and participation: Deadline 5th of September to apply the call
With the support of Active Citizenship Network, the Greek Patients’ Association is looking for a potential partners interested interested in submitting a project proposal focused on the promotion of EU values and fundamental rights.
The European Commission launched the new call for proposals under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme, whose main objective is to promote the participation and contribution of citizens and representative associations to the democratic and civic life of the European Union by making known and publicly exchanging their views in all areas on Union action.
To know more about the upcoming call CERV-2023-CITIZENS-CIV, click here. To contact the Greek Patients’ Association, please write to Dimitris Champesis

Health as Common Good - ForumDD Documentary and Campaign
The Italian Forum on Inequality and Diversity (ForumDD), an alliance of active citizens’ organizations and academic and institutional research, launched the "Health as Common Good" documentary and campaign in support of the proposal to create a pan-European public Research & Development infrastructure and drug delivery organization. The aim of the campaign is both to bring to the attention of MEPs the need to truly learn from the Pandemic in the EU's commitment to public research and to raise awareness among all citizens on such p crcial issue. We are inviting people to sign a petition in support of the proposal, submitted to the European Parliament in September 2022, and first advanced by the Forum on Inequality and Diversity in 2019 in a public Report as part of 15 proposals for social justice. In the coming weeks, the European Parliament will vote on the Report on Lessons Learned from the Covid-19 Pandemic and Recommendations for the Future. All parties are called to commit to getting Europe on the right track and the Forum’s campaign serves as a reminder that a different path is possible. Here you can find the documentary and here you can also find the news on the ForumDD website with all the information about the campaign.  

Official agreement with Universidad del Paciente y la Familia
Active Citizenship Network signed an official Memorandum of Understanding with the Universidad del Paciente y la Familia, an innovative academic center that offers accredited education to patients, families, caregivers and volunteers, in Spain and South America. This is possible thanks to the collaborations from professionals, universities, scientific societies and patient organizations. Its main mission is the empowerment of patients through education, to ensure active participation in decision-making processes in health and the improvement of the patient experience. To know more, click here.

Official agreement with HealthTech For Care
Active Citizenship Network signed an official Memorandum of Understanding with HealthTech For Care. HealthTech For Care is designed to support and promote access to healthcare for all, and it is the promoter of “HealthTech For Patients”, a European conference that places the patient at the heart of medical innovation. Thanks to this agreement, Active Citizenship Network reinforced its contacts in France, because HealthTech For Care is a non-profit organization supported by its founder France Biotech and the network of French health clusters. To know more, click here. 

26 September 2023| Spain: Civil Society promoting vaccination through the lifecourse
The first online focus group, “Civil Society promoting vaccination across the life-course”,  will be held in Spain on 26 of September 2023, organized by the Asociación Española contra la Meningitis, official partner of Active Citizenship Network. Independent experts will discuss the importance of life - course vaccination in their country, including lessons learned from Covid-19, barriers to vaccine access, options to choose between different vaccines and possible changes to the annual vaccination calendar. To know more about the initiative, please click here.

24-25 October 2023 | Brussels (Belgium): RE-energising Europe - Sharing ideas and knowledge
On October 24 and 25, 2023 seven EU-funded projects (Horizon2020) will bring together on stage speakers from the EU institutions, from the projects as well as key players from the energy market, to discuss how the work done in the past 3 years can support RE-energising Europe.
The first day will focus on understanding the future of energy demand and its policy implications through new societal trends, behavioural aspects and multiple benefits through the involvement of three different projects, including NUDGE, in which Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network is one of the consortium partners. On October 25 the discussion will be focused on energy communities and renewable energy, accelerating Europe’s transition towards a climate neutral, inclusive future.
Key topics related to energy in Europe will be tackled: (renewable)(bio) energy communities, energy efficiency, multiple benefits, RES, RHC, women, empowering people, energy behaviour, new trends of energy consumption (digitalisation, circular economy and more). To bring content to the discussions, our initiatives will present tools and models, one stop shops, awareness raising and nudging campaigns, showcased through inspirational presentations, a poster session and a field visit (Belgian energy community).
This event will provide an opportunity for attendees to learn about the latest developments in these areas and exchange ideas and best practices. Both days complement each other and provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of research and policy recommendations in the energy field.
To know more and register, please visit this page.

24-25 October 2023 | Paris (France): HealthTech Innovation Days
HealthTech For Care, a new Active Citizenship Network official partner, is delighted to see the return of the 5th edition of HealthTech Innovation Days (HTID#5), taking place in Paris on October 24 and 25, and virtually on October 27. The objective of HTID#5 is to provide a forum for promising European life sciences companies to accelerate their growth and bring their innovative solutions to patients faster. To register, click here.