Bulgaria has a long immunization experience. Immunizations against tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, and hepatitis B have been mandatory for decades as well as recently introduced immunizations against pneumococcal diseases and Haemophilus infl.b infections too. Additionally, HPV vaccine was intensively introduced as recommended for 12-year old girls within a national vaccination campaign for prevention of HPV - caused cancers.
Women who are pregnant are more likely to have severe disease and hospitalisation with either seasonal or pandemic influenza, compared to the general population or compared to non-pregnant women of the same age group. During pandemics, the mortality rate for pregnant women is higher than non-pregnant women. However, this is not the case with seasonal influenza unless the strain is particularly severe (WHO 2010).
The report of the WHO SAGE Vaccine Hesitancy Working Group defined vaccine hesitancy as “a behaviour, influenced by a number of factors including issues of confidence (e.g. low level of trust in vaccine or provider), complacency (e.g. negative perceptions of the need for, or value of, vaccines], and convenience (e.g. lack of easy access)”.
EUPATI, European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation, is a patient-led initiative that uses training courses, educational material and an online public library for empowering patients to engage more effectively in the development and approval of new treatments and become true partners in pharmaceutical research and development. Filippo Buccella, chairman of the Italian Liaison Team explains to ASSET how this initiative can involve healthy citizens as well, improving preparedness to infectious outbreaks and other crises.
ASSET is close to its conclusion and a concluding conference will be held in Rome, on October 30-31, to present all the main outcomes of the project. This event will take place at the hotel NH Roma Leonardo Da Vinci and will be targeted to a selected audience of EU stakeholders and policy makers. Its aim is to enhance advocacy and intersectoral approach in a multisetting scenario applied to fostering preparedness and response toward Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), like epidemics and even pandemics.
ASSET is close to its conclusion and a concluding conference will be held in Rome, on October 30-31, to present all the main outcomes of the project. This event will take place at the hotel NH Roma Leonardo Da Vinci and will be targeted to a selected audience of EU stakeholders and policy makers. Its aim is to enhance advocacy and intersectoral approach in a multisetting scenario applied to fostering preparedness and response toward Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), like epidemics and even pandemics.
The internet and social media era is both a great and a hard time to be an empowered patient or citizen. Every day everyone is overwhelmed by information, but also by misinformation. Discerning between the two is not so easy, according to Dennis Costello, Web Communications Senior Manager & RareConnect Leader at EURORDIS (Rare Diseases Europe). Best practices should be adopted by creators of contents and technical tools can further help in selecting them, but patients’ and consumers’ associations have a leading role in this, guiding the public so that they can make better decisions for themselves and their family.
