Projects related to RIVER-EU objectives
Related initiatives with which synergies can be established.
Other networks, websites and key stakeholders to reduce inequalities in vaccine uptake.
Related initiatives
EU-JAV represents 20 partners across Europe (17 EU member States and 3 non-EU countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Norway and Serbia) coordinated by Inserm. Through its core mission of delivering and sharing concrete tools for stronger national responses to vaccination challenges, the EU‐JAV aims at spurring long‐lasting European cooperation against vaccine‐preventable diseases and therefore improve population health.
CBIG-SCREEN aims to tackle inequality in cervical cancer screening (CCS) continuum. It will be working collaboratively with vulnerable and underserved women to identify the interventions that will more effectively engage and retain them in CCS programmes in European countries. Through stakeholder engagement, mathematical analyses, and structured reviews of current policies, the consortium will collect, analyse, and share knowledge about shortcomings and opportunities for improving CCS continuum that will directly translate to policy recommendations and be used to adapt and extend national CCS with interventions tailored to vulnerable subpopulations.
Increased Access To Vaccination for Newly Arrived Migrants (AcToVax4ΝΑΜ) aims to improve vaccination access for Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM), making access conditions more equitable and guaranteed. The project targets Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) that are part of routine vaccination programmes and will adopt a life course approach.
The principal objective of JITSUVAX is to leverage misinformation about vaccinations into an opportunity by training Health Care Professionals (HCPs) through inoculation and refutational learning, thereby neutralizing misinformation among HCPs and enabling them to communicate more effectively with patients.
IMMUNION (“Improving IMMunisation cooperation in the European UNION”), is a project (2021-2023) funded by the European Union Health Programme. Led by EuroHealthNet, the project brings together members of the Coalition for Vaccination (established by the EU in 2019), as well as partners across the EU with the ultimate goal to increase vaccine confidence and uptake. Building on learnings from vaccination efforts at national, regional and global level, IMMUNION will add value to existing EU and national initiatives by increasing stakeholder collaboration to address issues of access to accurate information about vaccination.
Innovative Immunisation Hubs establish proactive partnerships with citizen groups, public health agencies, key stakeholders and the general public to improve access to vaccination in disadvantaged, isolated, and difficult to reach population groups in 6+2 European countries, according to best practices for community partnerships. It creates innovative immunisation actions, which will increase vaccine uptake across borders, generations and population groups.
The website of the Vaccine Confidence Project™ (VCP™) serves as a collection of resources from around the world that can be used to gain further information about vaccines and their recommended usage. The VCP™ post and link to relevant literature as well as latest news on vaccine confidence.
VACCELERATE is a clinical research network for the coordination & execution of COVID-19 vaccine trials. VACCELERATE conducts capacity mapping of new clinical trial sites & laboratories with standardised methods and protocols, and provides standardised educational measures, training and quality management for harmonised vaccine trials.
This initiative aims at supporting ECDC by designing a competency-based e-learning course on vaccinology targeted at PHC providers and a competency-based blended training course on behaviour change communication about vaccine hesitancy targeted to trainers of healthcare providers. The training is intended to help them understand the mechanisms of hesitant behaviours, so they may be more impactful while training PHC professionals to effectively communicate when talking with patients.
The Vaccine Adverse Events Monitoring and Communication (VAESCO) project, was a network of investigators from EU Member States and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries with the overall aim of contributing to enhanced monitoring, epidemiological investigation and communication of AEFI in the EU and European Economic Area (EEA). It was coordinated by the Brighton collaboration and funded by ECDC.
VAC4EU (Vaccine monitoring Collaboration for Europe) is the sustainability solution of the ADVANCE project which was funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative from October 2013- March 2019. VAC4EU implements the ADVANCE vision, system and blueprint and enables robust and timely evidence-generation on the effects of vaccines in a collaborative manner in Europe for use by citizens, health care professionals, public health organisations and regulatory agencies. VAC4EU is a multi-stakeholder international association with a study network to run studies and an open community for scientific debate.
Reaching the hard-to-reach: Increasing access and vaccine uptake among prison population in Europe (RISE-Vac) aims at improving the health of prison population in Europe by promoting vaccine literacy, enhancing vaccine offer and increasing vaccine uptake. RISE-Vac gathers existing evidence on vaccination strategies and services targeting people in prison and combine it with prospectively collected data on (i) attitude and vaccine literacy among prison population and staff; and (ii) vaccination status and vaccine uptake during incarceration.
The Prevention and Screening Innovation Project towards Elimination of Cervical Cancer (PRESCRIP-TEC) is a three-year project (February 2021 – January 2024) that leads to effective cervical cancer screening in resource-poor or hard-to-reach settings in the world by an innovative approach using HPV self tests at home and an artificial intelligence decision support system
PRESCRIP-TEC conducts implementation research into cervical cancer screening and secondary prevention in different settings in four countries over three continents: Bangladesh and India in Asia, Uganda in Africa, and Slovakia in Eastern Europe.
JAHEE addresses health inequalities and achieving greater equity in health outcomes across all groups in society, in all participating countries and in Europe at large. JAHEE also includes a specific focus on both vulnerable groups and migrants.
Mig-HealthCare project (2017 – 2019) funded under the 3rd Health Programme aimed to reduce health inequalities and improve the health care services for migrants and refugees, through research and the development of tools to facilitate the implementation of community based care models.
“Promotion of Immunization for Health Professionals in Europe – HProImmune” (2011 – 2014). HProImmune, was co-funded by the DG SANTE Public Health Program 2008 – 2013. The general objective of this project is to promote vaccination coverage of Health Care Workers (HCWs) in different health care settings by developing a tailored communication toolkit. The project added to the knowledge on barriers concerning HCW immunizations and developed educational material for health professionals as well as propose recommendations for policy-makers.
Promote vaccinations among migrant populations in Europe – PROMOVAX, was co-funded by the DG SANTE Public Health Program 2008 – 2013. Between 2010 and 2013, the project contributed to the knowledge on barriers concerning migrants’ immunizations and developed educational material for both health professionals and migrants, as well as proposed recommendations for policy-makers.
Other Networks, Key Stakeholders, websites
Coalition for Vaccination brings together European associations of healthcare professionals and relevant student associations in the field. It was convened by the European Commission in 2019. The Coalition aims to support delivering accurate information to the publTextic, combating myths around vaccines and vaccination, and exchanging best practices on vaccination.
Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) is a non-profit, pan-European umbrella organisation of national and regional cancer societies. ECL provides an exclusive platform for members to collaborate with their international peers, primarily in the areas of cancer prevention, tobacco control, access to medicines and patient support, and creates opportunities to advocate for these issues at the EU level.
The EU Health Policy Platform is an interactive tool to boost discussions about public health concerns, share knowledge and best practices. The Platform invites you to exchange with others, pool your expertise in joint statements and disseminate actions among a wide audience. One of the groups is Vaccine hesitancy and uptake network. (EU Login credentials required – anyone can create an account)
The Brighton Collaboration is a global research network that conducts collaborative research and builds research capacity for reliable vaccine safety information. It has developed case definitions that allow countries to share a common understanding for AEFI detection, guidelines and template protocols so that public health decision makers can have the most accurate results available.
The Vaccine Safety Net is a global network of websites, established by the World Health Organization, that provides reliable information on vaccine safety.
The World Health Organization (WHO) established in 1999 the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) to respond promptly, efficiently, and with scientific rigour to vaccine safety issues of potential global importance.
The European Medicines Agency is an agency of the EU responsible for the scientific evaluation of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies for use in the EU. In the event of a pandemic, the agency is able to carry out fast track authorisation procedures for vaccines as well as monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness. The agency also constantly monitors the pharmacovigilance of authorised medicines and takes appropriate action if adverse drug reactions suggest that the benefit–risk balance of a medicine has changed since it was authorised.
The website contains information on the safety and monitoring of vaccines in the EU; explanations on the benefits of vaccination and how vaccines are made. It also offers factsheets of five vaccine-preventable diseases and a list of official websites on vaccination of all EU countries. The website contains information on the safety and monitoring of vaccines in the EU; explanations on the benefits of vaccination and how vaccines are made. It also offers factsheets of five vaccine-preventable diseases and a list of official websites on vaccination of all EU countries.
Immunization Academy provides short, on-demand training videos for immunization professionals in English, French and Kiswahili. Videos cover a range of critical immunization topics, including supply chain, data monitoring, and vaccine delivery. This initiative is sponsored by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and led by learning experts at Bull City Learning using WHO-approved guidance.
The website includes a section titled “Talking about Vaccines.” The purpose of this section is to provide medical professionals with background information and practical resources that will help them discuss immunization with concerned parents or patients.
This website for the general public presents straightforward information about vaccine-preventable diseases and their vaccines. Launched in August 2002, it currently hosts an average of more than 4,000 visits per day, making more than 200 pages available. It provides basic information about vaccination, vaccine safety, and the overall importance of immunization, and features 234 vaccine-preventable disease photos and 187 video clips.
Vaccines Today is an online platform for discussing vaccines and vaccination. The target audience is the general public and others in Europe with an interest in immunisation. It features news stories and feature articles, Frequently Asked Questions and glossaries, videos and interviews.
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health, including the work on vaccines and immunization.
The WHO European Region celebrates European Immunization Week (EIW) every year to raise awareness of the importance of immunization in preventing diseases and protecting life.
ECDC is an EU agency aimed at strengthening Europe’s defences against infectious diseases. The core functions cover a wide spectrum of activities: surveillance, epidemic intelligence, response, scientific advice, microbiology, preparedness, public health training, international relations, health communication, and the scientific journal Eurosurveillance.