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Strategies for increasing vaccination coverage throughout Europe

International conference at MedUni Vienna on 24 April to mark European Vaccination Week
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(Vienna, 17 April 2019) The goal of the World Health Organization WHO for 2019 is to raise public awareness about the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages from disease. "As lead institution for evidence-based medicine, the Medical University of Vienna is working with the Austrian Society of Vaccinology to fulfil their responsibilities in this area and is supporting this aim," explains Ursula Wiedermann-Schmidt, Head of the Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine. Consequently, on 24 April, MedUni Vienna and the Austrian Society of Vaccinology (ÖGVAK) are jointly organising an international conference as part of European Vaccination Week (24 – 30 April). The conference will discuss and develop strategies for raising public awareness to ensure better vaccination coverage in Europe.

In the spirit of WHO, which regards this problem as one of the ten major healthcare problems in the world – the aim of all participants is to engage with parents, political decision-makers, the media and healthcare professionals, in particular, to raise awareness and hence achieve greater vaccination coverage in general. "We see a particular need among the healthcare professions," emphasises ÖGVAK President Wiedermann-Schmidt. "We want to achieve a situation where it is compulsory for people already working or aspiring to work in such professions to produce evidence of their vaccination status."

Protected Together, Vaccines Work
As part of European Vaccination Week, which is using the slogan "Protected Together,#Vaccines Work", MedUni Vienna will host an international conference with numerous well-known speakers (Van Swieten Hall at MedUni Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Van Swieten Gasse 1a; 11:30 to 18:30 hrs – the conference language will be English). Link for more information

The programme will include presentations from Daniel Levy-Bruhl from the French National Institute of Public Health and Rita Carsetti from Babmino Gesù Hospital in Rome, outlining how the compulsory vaccination scheme, comprising several vaccines, functions in France and Italy. Experts from Austria, Finland and Greece will also outline their strategies. Once all the lectures have been delivered, there will be a discussion about the possibility of a common European solution aimed at increasing vaccination coverage.

Conference for European Vaccination Week 2019
Wednesday, 24 April 2019, 11:30 – 18:30 hrs, Van Swieten Hall at the Medical University of Vienna, Van-Swieten-Gasse 1a, 1090 Vienna. 

» For more information and to register