Following our “Position paper on prevention, innovation and a new health governance for the new EU Institutions”, drafted in May 2019 by ACN with the endorsement of 18 associations, on Non-Communicable Diseases, Active Citizenship Network has decided to increase the awareness of a growing number of patients’ rights associations on the importance of the prevention of pathologies correlated to cardiovascular protection. To do so, it was launched, from the second half of 2019, a multi-annual EU project with the aim of increasing consciousness on correct lifestyles and access to treatment, collecting good practices and reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases across Europe.
Supported by Bayer, the advocacy expertise on CVDs at the EU level has been guaranteed by the “European Congenital Heart Disease Organisation”, Stroke Alliance for Europe” and “The Heart Failure Policy Network”, while the scientific support has been provided by the “Italian Society of General Medicine and Primary Care” (SIMG). 21 PAGs from 16 Countries have been involved in a cycle of training seminars, in the definition and dissemination at the national level of an awareness campaign, in a policy dialogue & networking at the EU level.
The “World Heart Day” is the perfect day to quit smoking, start exercising and start eating healthy – all in the name of keeping your heart rate in good conditions, and improving the health and well-being of people all over the world. On this occasion, Active Citizenship Network will carry out for the first time at the EU level ad hoc European and national awareness campaigns on proper lifestyles and on the prevention of the risks linked to cardiovascular disorders and pathologies. The initiative is realized as part of the multi annual EU project “Increasing consciousness and access to treatment, reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases across Europe”.
Active Citizenship Network (ACN) is glad to invite you on the 29th of September 2021, from 11.30 to 13.00 CEST, to the digital event titled “Promoting civic information to better address the collateral damage of COVID-19 on cardiovascular disease across Europe”. The EU webinar organized by Active Citizenship Network is scheduled in occasion of the Annual “World Heart Day”: starting from data provided by the European Society of Cardiology on the Covid-19 impact, thanks to this initiative, ACN’s aim is to highlight some key messages - both in terms of prevention and in terms of health priorities for the coming years. About it, Active Citizenship Network is happy to confirm that this European webinar has been included in the portal of the EU Union focused on the Conference for the Future of Europe, and it will be hosted by the MEPs Interest Group "European Patients' Rights & CrossBorder Healthcare”.
The Economist Intelligence Unit has invited the Director of Active Citizenship Network to join the “Covid-19 Responsiveness” project as part of the Advisory Panel. The Advisory Panel is composed of experts with diverse insights and perspectives and the first Advisory Council meeting was held on Friday, 25 June 2021.
The purpose of the overall project, supported by Sanofi, is to identify possible factors contributing to success in handling Covid-19 across a range of countries so that valuable knowledge can be shared and lessons can be learned. The ultimate goal is to develop evidence-based policy takeaways.
Active Citizenship Network supported the social media campaign launched on 12 April 2021 as part of this year's European Health Parliament. The campaign, #VaccineChamp, is a youth initiative from Europe, aiming to equip citizens and people living in Europe with trustworthy information on vaccination.
As a stakeholder of the EU-Jav, Active Citizenship Network has contributed to the EU Joint Action on Vaccination survey “Vaccine hesitancy and uptake. From research and practices to implementation”, published on June 2021 after being submitted to the European Commission.
The Immunisation for All Ages (IFAA) initiative, supported by Pfizer, is - through civil society action - working to combat inequity and improve access to immunisation to help promote health throughout life, to preserve function and to help prevent death and disability. Active Citizenship Network in June 2021 joined the first of a series of roundtable meetings focused on “Protecting and Progressing Routine Immunisation. The IFAA Manifesto that Active Citizenship Network and many other organizations including the International Federation on Ageing supports has three calls to action to promote immunisation throughout the life course.
With the intense focus currently being placed on the pandemic, it will be crucial to keep ensuring that other infectious diseases like influenza remain a key public health priority. Influenza will continue to place a considerable (while preventable) burden on people's health and the health systems across Europe as experienced every year. As EU Member States’ COVID-19 vaccination programmes get closer to completion, and as Europe begins to re-open, the risk of high influenza infection rates also re-emerges.
An independent global research fund was established to support a better understanding of the relationship between social media and confidence in the COVID-19 and routine vaccinations. On June 10th, leaders from the technology, healthcare, global development, and academic sectors have come together to announce the Alliance for Advancing Health Online, a new initiative to advance public understanding of how social media and behavioral sciences can be leveraged to improve the health of communities around the world. The Alliance will bring together Bay Area Global Health Alliance, the CDC Foundation, Facebook, the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, MSD, Sabin Vaccine Institute, the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization. This multi-year initiative will initially focus on addressing vaccine hesitancy and vaccine equity with a strong focus on historically excluded or marginalized communities. In addition, the Alliance intends to create a global network of centers of social media and health research focused on improving health behavior via online platforms. As part of the broader initiative, the first step is the establishment of an independent Vaccine Confidence Fund to support research on how social media and online platforms can be leveraged to best support confidence in and uptake of COVID-19 and routine vaccinations around the world. The goal of this initial research is to produce timely, practical applications, focused on historically excluded or marginalized communities globally.
Active Citizenship Network endorsed the Call to Action on Routine and Life-course immunisation drafted by Vaccine Europe. With the COVID-19 vaccine rollout throughout Europe and the world, we've reached a key milestone in the fight against the pandemic. Nevertheless, routine vaccinations remain an essential part of protecting people's health, and it's hugely important to continue with them. To emphasize this message, the Routine Life-course Immunisation campaign has been launched last 11 February 2021, with a Call to Action to governments and global, European and national stakeholders.