Lisbon, November 13 – EUVABECO held a scientific session at the European Public Health Conference, organised by the European Public Health Association (EUPHA). The session was co-organized by the University of Crete, Riga Stradins University, Sciensano, the European Public Health Association’s Infectious Disease Control (EUPHA-IDC) and Global Health (EUPHA-GH) Sections, and the European Commission’s Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA).
Chaired by Georgios Margetidis, of the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) and Elena Petelos, of the University of Crete, and President of EUPHA’s Global Health Section, the event highlighted key developments in the project and set a clear vision for enhancing vaccination practices across the European Union.
The session kicked off with Christos Lionis, of the University of Crete, Coordinator of EUVABECO, who emphasized the need for ongoing innovation in vaccination strategies. Reflecting on the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Lionis stressed the importance of creating a supportive environment that enables effective vaccine deployment, a crucial factor in preparing for future health crises.
Next, François Kaag from Syadem, France, provided an in-depth look at EUVABECO’s implementation framework. He explained how the project was structured to deliver implementation plans for versatile tools that can support a wide variety of vaccination practices.
Following this, Matthieu Billuart of Sciensano, Belgium, introduced EUVABECO’s suite of innovative tools, designed to support vaccination practice across five key domains: medical, social, industrial, modelling, and digital. He described ongoing pilot projects in several EU countries testing the plans for the five solutions: a clinical decision support (CDS) system for healthcare providers, enhanced data linkage for targeted vaccination, a digital European vaccination card, an electronic patient information leaflet, and a disease forecasting tool.
Dace Zavadska, of Riga Stradins University, Latvia, emphasized the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders, including National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs). Given the varied vaccination policies and healthcare systems across EU Member States, Professor Zavadska highlighted the need for adaptable trusted strategies tailored to local contexts.
The session concluded with Sibilia Quilici of Vaccines Europe, who urged stakeholders to maintain active engagement as EUVABECO moves into the pilot implementation phase, stressing that ongoing collaboration is critical to adapting the project’s tools to diverse healthcare settings.
The meeting also allowed EUVABECO to connect with European Commission (EC) representatives to discuss progress and explore synergies with other EC health initiatives, setting the stage for coordinated efforts to enhance public health resilience across the European Union.
