THE PROJECT

As the most important tool of primary prevention, vaccination targets large numbers of healthy individuals in each Member State with the aim of preventing specific infections and altering the epidemiology of certain diseases. Although the type of vaccines used, the recommended schedule for their administration and the strategies adopted to immunise the target population are set at national level, their effects are expected to have an impact beyond political borders especially in the EU context of free circulation of persons and potential infectious vehicles. Currently in the European area there are many vertical projects addressing single diseases or infections, including some preventable by vaccination, but no project in the Public Health field is addressing vaccination with a horizontal approach and with an EU perspective. As an example, many countries use similar childhood vaccination schedules and also the same commercial products, but there is no attempt to pool experience or tools on a systematic basis, in spite of the presence of common European regulations for marketing authorization. On the contrary some countries use the same products but with other concurrent vaccines and the experience gathered on the field is not collected or made available to others. There is the need to improve knowledge on how vaccinations are performed across the EU, to agree on indicators for monitoring vaccination programs, to define models of decision making processes, to integrate available information and identify gaps and added values. Furthermore the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 member states (MS) will increase the variability of the already heterogeneous picture and the demand for knowledge about the systems in place. The development of common tools for improving vaccination programs and responding in a coordinated way to challenges is therefore an European priority.

The Venice project aim is to encourage collection and dissemination of knowledge and best practice relating to vaccination and to further develop collaboration and partnership between member states.