Driving Pediatric Vaccines Recovery in Europe

Pediatric vaccination helps protect children and adults against serious, preventable and sometimes life-threatening diseases. Childhood vaccination coverage in Europe has increased in recent decades, reaching very high levels at the end of the first decade of this century, and several countries have managed to achieve impressive results, such as the goal of over 95% measles vaccination coverage.

Despite this impressive track record, in recent years, and even before the pandemic, this trend has been reversed in many countries or regions within Europe. As a result, a number of European countries have experienced unprecedented outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union and its Member States recognized the need for concerted action to effectively address increased vaccination hesitancy, decreased vaccination coverage rates, and associated disease outbreaks.

Any variation or fluctuation in vaccine coverage rates is a concern, as this signals a lack of resilience, reliability and predictability of the vaccination program. Any decrease in coverage rates is associated with an increase in unvaccinated and under vaccinated individuals and, in turn, a higher likelihood of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks.

The WFPHA provides key recommendations to support the development of strong and resilient immunization systems and concrete crisis preparedness plans across the European Union that will ensure effective pediatric immunization and prioritize vaccination as an essential health service.

It is recommended that governments, public health authorities and the related communities, as well as advocacy groups work together towards developing the following 5 pillars, with the final aim to build sustainable and resilient systems for health: monitoring, communication, equitable access, legislation and funding, and crisis-preparedness planning.

The WFPHA Has Attended the World Health Summit 2022

The WFPHA attended the the World Health Summit 2022 in Berlin, Germany, represented by Dr Michael Moore AM, Chair of the International Immunization Policy Taskforce.

During the Summit, Dr Moore emphasized the importance of adequate immunization throughout the lifespan to prevent disease and promote the health and well-being of our communities.

The WFPHA Has Attended the 1st World Patients Conference

The WFPHA attended the 1st World Patients Conference in Rome, Italy, represented by its Executive Manager, Dr Marta Lomazzi. Dr Lomazzi discussed with delegates from other international NGOs and patients how to equip at best health professionals to face the new normal and deal with the different crises we are facing, from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change, war, displacement, etc.

Debates about the opportunities for public health in our changing world will continue next year at the 17th World Congress on Public Health, to be held in Rome, Italy, May 2 – 6, 2023.

The WFPHA Special General Assembly 2022

On October 13, 2022, the WFPHA held a Special General Assembly, bringing together all member organizations from around the world and providing a unique opportunity for all participants to present their reports and discuss current and future priorities for global public health issues.

Big Tobacco’s Dirty Tricks

Since its inception, the tobacco industry has been at the forefront of influencing public opinion and disrupting health policy through various sophisticated and deceptive methods. As evidence has mounted supporting the undisputed deadly effects of tobacco products, the industry has found ways to adapt and thrive. They have succeeded in attracting enough new smokers to support industry growth despite losing eight million of their consumers annually to tobacco-related deaths. The sphere of influence of multi-billion dollar tobacco companies extends to the fields of scientific research, politics, law, education, and the media.

The WFPHA Tobacco Control Working Group has published a casebook entitled Big Tobacco’s Dirty Tricks: A Casebook of Seven Key Tactics Used by the Tobacco Industry which contains seven articles discussing key tactics used by tobacco corporations to improve their brand, hinder their opponents, and undermine tobacco control measures globally. The cases provide insights into the industry’s methods as they trick, manipulate, bribe, and threaten in the eternal quest for profit. Each article outlines a particular tactic, demonstrates examples where it has occurred, and offers recommendations for how individuals, professionals, organizations and governments can recognize and counteract them.

To evaluate readers’ feedback on the articles and investigate attitudes toward the tobacco industry tactics, a brief survey is provided. The quick anonymous survey can be accessed with the link below.

The more informed our society is about the tactics used by Big Tobacco, the better chance we have of effectively imposing tobacco control measures, reducing consumption globally and preventing tobacco-related illness and death.