European healthcare professionals encourage citizens to check their vaccination status

On the occasion of the annual WHO European Immunization Week (EIW), the Coalition for Vaccination urges healthcare professionals to ensure that children and adults are up-to-date on their routine vaccines.

This year's EIW campaign highlights the urgent need to achieve high and equitable vaccination coverage in every community to prevent outbreaks of different vaccine-preventable diseases now and in the future under the theme “Immunization for all is Humanly Possible”.

In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the highest number of measles cases in Europe in more than 25 years.

Also the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) highlighted that measles cases in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) during the past year have increased considerably and that eight out of ten people who were diagnosed with measles were not vaccinated. 2

Moreover, fourteen deaths attributable to measles were reported to the ECDC during the most recent 12-month period in Romania.

The Coalition for Vaccination members emphasise that immunisation with two doses of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine is proven to be the safest and most effective way to protect individuals and populations against these highly contagious diseases.

Healthcare professionals encourage adults and parents to check their and their children’s vaccination status and to get vaccinated according to the national immunisation schedules.

The Coalition for Vaccination, co-chaired by the European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN), the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME), and the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU), aims at building vaccine confidence and calls on its members to address mis- and disinformation by sharing facts and reliable evidence.