European Commission proposal on vaccine cooperation
The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, presented on the 26th of April the Commission’s proposal to strengthen the EU cooperation on vaccine-preventable diseases. The launch of this proposal was timed to coincide with the European Immunisation Week and intends to face one of the most significant challenges regarding public health today: insufficient vaccination coverage, whose consequence is a rise in unprecedented outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2017, over 14 000 people contracted measles in the EU, more than three times the number reported in 2016.
The Commission’s proposal calls for joint action to increase vaccination coverage and to ensure that everybody in the European Union has access to vaccination, bridging inequalities and gaps in immunisation.
Among its goals, the proposal intends to:
- Develop and implement national and/or regional vaccination plans by 2020, including a target of at least 95{cabf78295431282ca1bec49ffbe2c87b89a1285ae102b2d0687184fc21af24ba} vaccination coverage for measles;
- Introduce routine checks of vaccination status and regular opportunities to vaccinate across different stages of life, for example in schools and workplaces;
- Present options for a common vaccination card that can be shared electronically across borders.
The Commission’s proposal will be discussed by the Council and is expected to be adopted before the end of 2018, with an immediate entry into force, with a progress report every three years afterwards. A report on “The State of Confidence in Vaccines in the EU” will also be produced by the Commission.
The full text of the proposal can be found here.
