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Monthly Newsletter edited by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network
Civic Activism | Patients' Rights | Consumers' Rights | Support ACN
SPECIAL EDITION ON VACCINATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL  RESISTANCE
Year 7th, number 73 - October 2019
Highlight

ACN’commitment at the EU level on vaccination and AMR
Vaccination programs are facing considerable challenges, such as a decline in vaccination coverage in some countries, measles outbreaks and shortages in supply. In addition, misconceptions about vaccination can further shift the public focus from the individual and collective benefits of vaccination to distrust and vaccination hesitancy. A study presented at this year's EU-JAV Annual Meeting shed light on public behavior about vaccination on social media. Read more

Focus

EU-JAMRAI 2nd Annual Meeting & Stakeholder Forum
As an official partner, Active Citizenship Network participated in the EU-JAMRAI 2nd Annual Meeting & Stakeholder Forum. The EU-JAMRAI (European Joint Action on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections) has the goal to keep antibiotics working. The conference, which took place on September 16th and 17th in Rome, brought together leaders from the national public health ministries and industry, healthcare workers, researchers and civil society organizations. Active Citizenship Network, which is officially recognized as a stakeholder by EU-JAMRAI, was involved in the conference to confirm its commitment on the topic at national and EU level. If you want to take a look at publications of EU-JAMRAI, click here. If you want to see photos of the event, click here for the General Assembly and click here for the Stakeholder Forum. For our short summary of the event, visit our website. To learn more about our policy on patient safety: focus on Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), click here

EU-JAV  General Assembly Meeting
Active Citizenship Network took part in the EU-JAV General Assembly Meeting as an official stakeholder partner. The EU-JAV (European Joint Action on Vaccination) is a joint effort by European countries to tackle vaccination together. The conference, which took place on October 2nd and 3rd in the Italian National Health Institute in Rome, brought together leaders from the national public health ministries as well as representatives of industry, healthcare workers, researchers and civil society organizations. Active Citizenship Network was officially recognized as a stakeholder by EU-JAV for its efforts on vaccination. The involvement of Active Citizenship Network in the conference confirms its commitment on the issue. If you want to know more about EU-JAV, click here. For our short summary of the event, visit our website.
If you want to learn more about our engagement on vaccination, read this.

News
Patients' Rights

Coalition on Vaccination
On September 11th, a day before the Global Vaccination Summit, associations of healthcare professionals met in Brussels to address myths about vaccination and exchange best practices. Active Citizenship Network attended the Coalition meeting. To learn more about the Coalition on Vaccination, click here. For our short summary of the event, visit our website

Global Vaccination Summit
The European Commission organized, in cooperation with the World Health Organization, a Global Vaccination Summit on 12 September 2019, in Brussels. The goal was to raise awareness and political endorsement to the issues of vaccination. The EU demonstrated its willingness to work with other stakeholders to increase vaccine confidence. Political leaders and leaders from scientific, medical, industry, and civil society in global action against the spread of vaccine misinformation. Active Citizenship Network joined the initiative in order to represent civil society. To read more about the Global Vaccination Summit, click here.

THINK YOUNG initiative - Young Coalition for Prevention & Vaccination
On the 13th September, Active Citizenship Network had the opportunity to speak about communication campaign activities on vaccinations on national and European level to the Young Coalition. The Young Coalition for Prevention & Vaccination (YC4PV), which brings together student organizations, health policy activists, patient associations, and the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, is drafting a manifesto by 2020 with concrete proposals for increasing awareness and uptake of vaccinations. To know more about this initiative, click here

Vaccines Ecosystem Health Check at the 22nd European Health Forum
In the framework of the Annual European Health Forum on 2nd and 4th October in Bad Hofgastein, the Cittadinanzattiva Secretary General Antonio Gaudioso was invited to speak about vaccines ecosystems.  He underlined the importance of Healthcare Professionals in increasing vaccines both in terms of delivery and information sharing. To know more, click here

Fighting antimicrobial resistance: the AMR One-Health Network meeting
The EU AMR One-Health Network, which is led by the European Commission, met in Brussels on 15 October 2019. The Network includes representatives from public health and animal health from all 28 EU countries, Commission experts and EU agencies. The meeting provided a platform to present national action plans and activities, share best practices, discuss policy options and enhance coordination.
During the meeting, the results of the latest WHO/OIE/FAO monitoring survey on the implementation of the AMR Global Action Plan were presented. If you want to learn more about the AMR One-Health network, please click here.

The life-course approach to vaccination: Harnessing the benefits of vaccination throughout life
The scientific journal “Vaccine” published an article which was co-authored by Active Citizenship network. The title of the article is “The life-course approach to vaccination: Harnessing the benefits of vaccination throughout life”. The article discusses the importance of vaccination beyond childhood, and calls for according action from lawmakers. If you want to read the full article, follow this link.

Use of antimicrobials in animals further reduced
The European Medicines Agency published its 9th report on the European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC). The report shows that veterinary antimicrobial sales have gone down by 32% between 2011 and 2017. Especially noteworthy is that the use of antimicrobials that are used for human patients has gone down, too. If you want to learn more about the One Health approach and how animal and human health are interconnected, click here. If you are interested in reading the ESVAC report, visit this website.

Italy: Training initiatives on vaccines for advocacy groups
A series of training initiatives titled “Vaccinations; rights and duties today: learn to teach and to promote empowerment” was launched by Cittadinanzattiva on the 22nd of October. The first initiative took place in Rome the same day with the local chapter of the Association of Medical and Dental Doctors. The goal of the initiative is to improve the understanding of vaccination among constituencies and activists. There will be two more dates of the training tour in other Italian cities. If you want to know more, click here. (IT language)

Italy: Agreement in Tuscany to vaccinate with the family doctor
Thanks to an agreement which was reached this summer, patients will now be able to be directly vaccinated by their family doctor, thus avoiding waiting lists at hospitals. Doctors will be able to administer influenza vaccinations, anti-pneumococcal, antimeningococcal, tetanus, HPV, hepatitis A and B, measles-rosolia-parotitis-varicella, among others. This new agreement will help Tuscany reach an even better vaccination coverage. To know more, read the article. (IT language)

Italy: Information Campaign about Influenza Vaccination launched
On the 23rd of October, Cittadinanzattiva launched the second edition of its campaign on vaccination called #Rompilatrasmissione. This year it will focus on flu vaccination. To know more and to download the guide for citizens, click here.

Network News

Malta: European Charter of Patients' Rights promoted by National Patient Organization
The president of the National Patient Organization of Malta, Irene Schembri, a long-time ACN partner was invited to a national television programme on September 4th. She had the chance to speak about the European Charter of Patients' Rights drafted by ACN in 2002. In the program, she had the opportunity to introduce the audience to the Charter which seeks to guarantee the same rights for every patient in Europe. If you are interested in learning more about the Charter, click here.

Events

5th of November, Paris (France): Changing the European landscape in influenza vaccination
Because of its commitment to vaccination, Cittadinanzattiva has been invited as a panel member for the upcoming VaxExcel – ‘Changing the European landscape in influenza vaccination’ meeting on the 5th November. It will be a great opportunity to discuss with other experts and stakeholders on how to tackle the influenza challenge together. The objectives are to facilitate exchange between Healthcare professionals on immunization strategies, improve understanding of influenza and discuss the public perception of vaccines. To know more, click here.

6th of November, Brussels (Belgium): 4 Best practices on Chronic Pain will be awarded
In the Framework of the 2nd edition of the “EU Civic Prize on Chronic Pain - Collection of good practices”, promoted by Active Citizenship Network, the four best practices will be awarded during a ceremony which will take place in the Concert Noble. The aim is to highlight existing good practices in several European countries in terms of struggle against pain. In particular, this second edition allows us to expand the “agora” of operators of good practices on pain, encouraging the exchange of experiences among health professionals, healthcare providers, Institutions, civic associations and patient advocacy groups. The award ceremony will be celebrated in Brussels on 6th November 2019 during a welcome reception. The event will be realized in the framework of the SIP Symposium 2019. To read about the first edition of this Prize, follow this link.

6th of November, Rome (Italy): 28th National Assembly of the Italian Chapter of EAPN
On the 6th of November, the Italian Chapter of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) will hold its 28th assembly. EAPN works to fight against poverty in Europe. The Assembly will have the following topics as focal points; adequate minimum income, the Agenda 2020, the EU budget 2021-2027 and the European Pillar of Social Rights. EAPN has invited experts, activists and civil society leaders to participate in the panels. If you want to learn more about the European Anti-Poverty Network, follow the link.

6th and 7th of November, Brussels (Belgium):  EU pain advocacy summit
On the 6th and 7th of November, an event about pain advocacy will be held, to which Active Citizenship Network was invited as a panel speaker. The aim of the event is to strengthen the skills of advocacy for leaders involved in the issue of pain. In that occasion ACN will present its national and European advocacy strategy in the field of pain. Policy-makers at European institutions and the World Health Organization have made explicit calls for increased patient participation in the decision-making process, to improve patient outcomes and, ultimately, ensure the sustainability of Europe’s healthcare systems. In light of this, the Summit will deliver tactical workshop sessions to develop the overall technical capacity of organizations. To know more about our commitment on pain, click here.

6th and of November, Brussels (Belgium):  ECC-Net panel debate “The Future of the European Consumer”
The European Consumer Centre Network (ECC-Net) is the European Commission’s network for cross-border consumer complaints. Being very active on consumer rights, Active Citizenship Network has been asked to an initiative about future developments on Consumer rights. The panel comprised of MEPs and experts will look at questions revolving around challenges such as sustainable consumption and consumer protection. If you want to know more about our commitment on consumer rights, please click here.

7th of November, Brussels (Belgium): SIP 2019 Symposium
On November 7, Societal Impact of Pain (SIP) will organize its yearly International Symposium in Brussels. SIP is a platform which aims to raising awareness on the impact of pain, sharing best practices and developing improved policies around pain care. The platform brings together health care professionals, pain advocacy groups, politicians, healthcare insurance providers, representatives of health authorities, regulators and budget holders. To know more, click here.

20th November, Amsterdam (Netherlands): AMR: Global Patient Advocacy Advisory Summit
Active Citizenship Network was invited to this year’s Summit on AMR to discuss ways in which patient organizations can work contribute to AMR strategy. Actions which will be discussed include antibiotic stewardship, prevention, innovation and healthcare system changes.  The event was attended by political leaders, civil society organizations, industry representatives and other actors with an interest in fighting AMR.

26th November, Madrid (Spain): Focus group on life course vaccination
The initiative is organized by Asociación Española contra la Meningitis with the support of Active Citizenship Network and it is realized in the framework of the EU project “European active citizens for vaccination: Improve the awareness on the importance of vaccination across Europe”, led by Active Citizenship Network in 4 EU countries thanks to the direct involvement of its local partners.
In Madrid, experts and representatives of institutions involved in the field of vaccination will discuss together about the national vaccination plan. The main focus will be lifelong vaccination.
To know more about the project, click here.

 


Director and Editor in chief: Mariano Votta
Editors: Daniela Quaggia, Bianca Ferraiolo, Federico Foti e Riccardo Schwarz
Coordination and Production: Giacomo D'Orazio 

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