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8/3/2019 ESWI Summit Report
1/28
THE FIRST EUROPEANINFLUENZA SUMMITBRUSSELS, 26 MAy 2011
Organized by
the European Scientific Working group on Influenza (ESWI)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pag 2 Fe
09:30-09:50
hy is influnza a dangrous disas and why should it bof intrst to th stakholdrs?Prof Dr A.D.M.E Osterhaus, head department of Virology,Erasmus MC Rotterdam, The Netherlands / ESWI chair
4
REACHING OUT TO EUROPE'S INFLUENZACOMMUNITY:
THe FIST ANNUAL eSI FLU SUMMIT
10:00-10:20
Council rcommndations on sasonal influnza vaccinationMr. John F. Ryan, Head of the Health Threats Unit, ECDirectorate-General for Health and Consumers
6EU FLU VACCINE POLICY:
AIMING HIGH
10:30-10:50
Vaccination of Halthcar Providrs: th ol of HospitalManagrsDr. Gabriele Andersen, chief occupational health doctor atUniversity Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf
8HCW VACCINATION:
Ne GeMAN HSPITAL'S QUALIFIe VICTY
11:15-11:35
Vaccination stratgis in th Nthrlands
Dr. Ted van Essen, General Practitioner -adviser to the Dutch Health Council
10THE NETHERLANDS:
VACCINATIN FNT-UNNe
11:45-12:05
Th rol of hospital pharmacists in prvntion andtratmnt of influnzaProf Arnold Vulto, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, The Netherlands
12COMING OUT ...
FM THe HSPITAL BASeMeNT
12:15-12:35
Th rol of pharmacists in vaccination stratgisMrs Suzete Costa, National Association of Pharmacists,Portugal
14VACCINATION TAKE-OFF:
PTUGAL'S PHAMACISTS BLAZe Ne PATH
13:30-13:50
Influnza vaccin manufacturrs committd to supportingnational flu vaccination programmsRichard Stubbins, chair UK Vaccine Industry Group
16VACCINATION IN THE UK:
STNG INUSTY-HC INTeACTIN
14:00-14:20
aising th publics awarnss about influnza in Franc
Prof Bruno Lina chair scientific advisory board of the GroupedExpertise et dInformation sur la Grippe (GEIG)
18RAISING FRENCH AWARENESS
ABUT INFLUeNZA
14:30-14:50
H-europ: assisting countris to obtain influnzasurvillanc and burdn dataDr Caroline Brown, head of the respiratory pathogens
programme, WHO's Europe office Copenhagen
20WHO & FLU:
HeLPING eUPe MNIT ITSeLF
15:15-15:35
Changing influnza policy: th US prspctivDr Litjen Tan, American Medical Association, co-chair NationalInfluenza Vaccine Summit
22GETTING RESULTS,
US-STYLe
15:45-16:10
Th rol of communication and mdiaHanns-Joachim Neubert, President European Unionof Science Journalists Associations (EUSJA)
24MEDIA, MEDICINE & THE PUBLIC:
A LVe-HATe AFFAI
26 SUMMIT CNCLUSINS
PROGRAMME
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Professional awareness about the important burden of influenza on public health continues to grow
in Europe, but theres still no consensus about the best way to monitor, treat and prevent the disease,
the exact policy approach needed to promote the use of influenza antivirals and vaccines, or the most
effective mixture of communication options for reaching the wider public. Getting a more focused
dialogue on the challenges of combating influenza, whether seasonal or pandemic, laid at the heart
of ESWIs first European Flu Summit.
On 26 May 2011, the First European Influenza Summit brought together more than 70 representatives
of organizations of healthcare providers, senior citizens, at-risk patients and public health authorities.
The aim of the meeting was to provide all influenza partners with an informal platform to exchange
good practices and to initiate concrete actions to improve public health protection against influenza.
11 expert lecturers, including the co-chair of the US National Flu Vaccine Summit, addressed the
audience to elaborate on 11 different aspects of the fight against influenza.
This magazine provides a report of the lectures and the discussions held at the Summit. The text can
be copied and distributed freely. Additional questions to the Summits faculty can be asked via ESWIs
management (contact details see below).
The Second European Influenza Summit will be organized in May 2012.
About ESWI
The European Scientific Working group on Influenza (ESWI) is a partnership
organization of stakeholders with a clear mission: to reduce the number of
influenza victims in Europe.
Partnership organizations like ESWI are established to meet specific
objectives and to undertake projects to address problems that neither
partner could tackle adequately on its own. A successful long-term
partnership is built on common grounds. In the case of ESWI, this common
ground is a social concern to improve public health in Europe.
If you require further information please check the ESWI website at
www.eswi.org or contact the ESWI manager, Mr David De Pooter,at [email protected] or +32 3 232 93 42.
FOREWORD
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It is vry important that w all
discuss and dbat this subjct to
crat a platform for flu stakholdrs
to xchang good practics and
initiat concrt actions in europ.
r. Ab strhaus, had of virology at
ottrdams erasmus Mdical Cntr
and eSI chair, told th summit in his
Aiming at a moving targetHeld in Brussels, the one-da event on 26 Ma brought together public and
private sector experts for a rich discussion of the issues in the sector, from
countr-specific vaccination strategies to dealing with a volatile press when
health issues hit the news.
REACHING OUT TO EUROPES INFLUENZATHE FIRST ANNUALESWI FLU SUMMIT
Stakeholder Profile: ESWI
The European Scientific Working group on Influenza brings together
experts, advisors and partner organizations to address flu-related public
health issues that none of the partners could adequately tackle on
their own. Their objectives include public information campaigns, health
surveillance techniques such as how to scale up preparations for a
pandemic and support for the use of vaccines and antivirals.
ESWI works closely with a wide diversity of organizations, which includes:
European Public Health Alliance
World Health Organization
European Respiratory Society
World Organization of Family Doctors
Pharmaceutical Group to the EU
International Diabetes Federation-Europe
Influenza vaccine and antiviral manufacturers
European Lung Foundation
US National Influenza Vaccine Summit
European Medical Association
opning rmarks. nd to dfin
a common policy ground in europ on
influnza, so w ar raching out to as
many stakholdrs as possibl.
Partly inspird by th US National
Influnza Vaccin Summit which
annually pulls togthr mor than
100 public and privat flu-rlatd
organizations undr on roof strhaus
said th eSI stakholdr platform is
guidd by four factors, namly that:
europan halth car systms ar
among th bst in th world
influnza claims mor livs thantraffic accidnts
undrlying disas and high ag
constitut a spcial risk
influnza is a prvntabl disas
strongly bliv that a focus on
bhavioural chang and public halth
policy is indispnsabl for raching th
halth protction objctivs of th eU and
th orld Halth rganisation [H].
Th ovrall goal has to b th rduction
of influnzas burdn on socity and th
numbr of fatal cass in europ, h said.
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T H e F I S T e U P e A N I N F L U e N Z A S U M M I T
B U S S e L S , 2 6 M A Y 2 0 1 1
COMMUNITy:
Memory fades, influenza does not
In his formal prsntation strhaus
rmindd th eSI audinc that th
worlds rcding collctiv mmory
of past pidmics mans thr is a
constant risk that th public forgts
how dangrous influnza can b. How
many popl did from pandmic flu
during th last cntury? Fifty to sixty
million! And yt popl still dont hav
th facts straight in thir had, h
obsrvd.
As an xampl, h pointd to th mythwhich holds that avian flu must always go
through poultry or pigs to rach humans.
now know that it can dirctly infct
humans. Th Hong-Kong flu outbrak
in 1997 was th first rcognizd cas of
th virus jumping from birds straight to
humans. So thy can spill ovr dirctly
to humans, though not from human to
human yt, h said.
And whil any nws about a pandmic
will dominat th hadlins, it is too
asy to ovrlook th dangrs and
halth statistics linkd to ordinary
flu, h said. Bcaus th gntic mak-
up of a flu virus constantly drifts ormutats, this rquirs annually updatd
vaccins sinc thr is no prsistnt
and broad immunity aftr infction or
vaccination dspit som lingring
public prcptions to th contrary.
Stpping up th flow of information
about influnza to th public, th mdia
and spcially europs divrs public
halthcar workr (HC) community
dmands a mor organisd approach,
said strhaus: Thats why this kind of
summit is so important for intracting
with stakholdrs and managing th
dialogu.
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Givn that th Commissions goalfor europ is to achiv a 75-prcnt
vaccination rat in th ldrly and
othr at-risk groups such as halth
car workrs by 2014-2015, yan said
th eU has consistntly advisd th
mmbr stats to adopt national and
rgional campaigns such as ducation
and training to boost information
xchangs on sasonal flu and thus lift
thir sasonal flu covrag rats.
Th 2009 H1N1 avian influnzapandmic rvald a hug divrsity
of vaccination approachs, though h
said som common obsrvations could
b drawn basd on th Commissions
rviw of vnts surrounding th
pandmic as wll as subsqunt
valuations by H, th europan
Cntr for isas Control (eCC), th
europan Mdicins Agncy (eMA) and
national assssmnts. For xampl, on
of th Commissions most importantfindings of th 2009 pandmic was th
rol that halth car workrs playd in
influncing th gnral publics attitud
toward vaccination.
ithout HCs ngagmnt
and support, th ffctivnss of
communication to patints and th
public will not b high, which mans
risk groups will b highly impactd,
yan obsrvd.
n big problm was th disconnctionbtwn th advic going to th gnral
public and that going to HCs about
th sriousnss of th pandmic. As
a rsult, many HCs did not tak it
sriously and so thy did not rcommnd
vaccination to thir patints. saw
this in many mmbr stats, h said.
It boils down to dialogu, which is why
it is so important to rais awarnss
among all stakholdrs.
Influenza vaccination policies and public information campaigns var greatl
across the 27 EU nations all the more so, as health care is a national
responsibilit. Steering them toward more coherence in their collective effort
to reduce the burden of influenza on societ falls primaril to the EuropeanCommission.
Raising Europes vaccination rates and developing mutual-support mechanisms
for the availabilit of vaccine stocks are two of the biggest polic challenges
facing the EU in this area, as explained b the ESWI summits second speaker,
John Ran head of the health threats unit at the European Commissions
Directorate-General for Health and Consumer (DG SANCO).
EU FLU ACCINE POLICy:AIMING HIGH
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T H e F I S T e U P e A N I N F L U e N Z A S U M M I T
B U S S e L S , 2 6 M A Y 2 0 1 1
No hard power but things are moving
As dadly as thy ar, pandmics arstill rar. Th mor common killr
is sasonal flu. Askd whthr th
Commission is giving any thought to
a collctiv approach to combating
sasonal flu, yans answr was
quivocal.
Noting that th Commissions hard or
binding lgislativ powr in th halth
sctor is limitd to a fw aras, h
said unfortunatly, sasonal flu dos
not fall in that catgory so w ar
rstrictd to soft masurs such as
[non-binding] rcommndations. But
w do issu rports on implmntation
of ths rcommndations, which can
b mbarrassing if a mmbr stats
finds its nam at th bottom of th list.
As far as Commissions 75-prcnt
targt vaccination rat for at-risk groups,
only on country Th Nthrlands has rachd that goal, for xampl.
yan admittd that th gap btwn
th targt and rality is larg. But h
also insistd that th ssntial thing is
to fix indicators and hav a procss for
achiving thm. r alrady prparing
for a joint procurmnt mchanism
[s accompanying box] for vaccin
procurmnt, and this could lad to
othr joint masurs such as rinforcd
prpardnss, which is currntly don
only on a voluntary basis.
The 2009 pandemic & vaccines: more EU solidarity needed
Many of the EU27 were in a difficult vaccine situation when the 2009 pandemic hit, according to Ryan. This pitched one
member state against another in the chase after vaccines, and some lost out when trying to vaccinate their citizens. As
a result, we saw shortages in certain EU nations. This is unacceptable in an EU where solidarity and health security
is a principle, he said.
To avoid such a situation the next time a pandemic hits, the EUs Council of Ministers asked the Commission to develop
a voluntary mechanism for the joint procurement of vaccines and antivirals a joint framework proposal which will be
presented in December 2011 to national health ministers for their discussion and approval.
According to Ryan, such an approach would offer three advantages. It would:
boost solidarity by guaranteeing a minimum level of equitable access to vaccines for priority risk groups
group together the member states purchasing power to produce better contractual terms regarding
price, liability and delivery
make the EU approach adaptable to existing national procurement practices
The Commission is convinced that joint purchasing [of vaccines and/or antivirals] would boost our level ofpreparedness, observed Ryan.
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In th yars prcding th 2009
pandmic, UKes HC-vaccination
rat was virtually no diffrnt from that
prvailing across Grman HCs as a
whol: around 15-to-20 prcnt.
But with th prospcts of pandmic
onslaught, Andrsn and tam
dcidd to tak th bull by th horns
and str thir organisations HCs
to highr hights. Th first thing thy
did was to crat an in-hous task
forc to coordinat th pro-vaccination
campaign.
A ky objctiv was to giv vry clar
information to all our mploys via
multipl channls such as nwslttrs,
postrs, mail, and so on and thn
to rinforc this with rgular visits by
vaccination information tams to all
sctors of th hospital, sh said.
also st up an in-hous hotlin for
qustions from staff mmbrs and,
most important, local vaccination points
across hospital at placs such as th
intnsiv car unit, mrgncy rooms
and th padiatric clinic. All this was
don to mak vaccination as asy as
possibl.
Ironically, on of th factors that pushd
UKes halth workrs to th vaccin
station was prsonal discomfort, which
aros for thos who chos not to gt
a flu shot. For unvaccinatd HCs,
w mad it obligatory to war th N95
[fac] mask to protct thmslvs
and patints. It turnd out this was a
main way to gt thm to com gt a
vaccination: thy did not lik waring
th mask all day. This was not asily
accptd but thy had to do it bcaus it
cam from our managmnt board and
thus could not b rjctd.
Among Europes largest hospitals, and the biggest in northern German, is the
Universit Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). With 4,500 doctors, therapists,
nurses and other medical personnel on its paroll, UKE handles 76,000
in-patients and a staggering 250,000 out-patients each ear.
How UKE managed to chalk up an astonishing rate of HCW vaccination during the2009 flu pandemic onl to see the momentum plunge once the pandemic wave
was over offers lessons learned for all, as Dr. Gabriele Andersen, UKEs chief
occupational health doctor, told the ESWI summit.
HCW ACCINATION:ONE GERMANHOSPITALS
(qUALIFIED)ICTORy
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T H e F I S T e U P e A N I N F L U e N Z A S U M M I T
B U S S e L S , 2 6 M A Y 2 0 1 1
HCW Vaccination: Firm Guiding Hand Needed
Converting HCWs to the self-vaccination cause demands both awareness-raising and firm guidance from management,
according to Andersen. The idea is to get the right mixture of positive incentives and negative disincentives, she said.
To reverse her organisations post-2009 pandemic slide in enthusiasm among HCWs to get a vaccination, Andersen
said UKEs management is now mulling a new strategy based on a set of options that range across the following:
better ways of distributing information to HCWs
the use of only vaccinated staff in certain areas such as patients with immune deficiency
declination forms whereby HCWs formally declare their rejection of vaccines
obligatory flu vaccination
a standing obligation that unvaccinated HCWs must wear a mask
Asked if UKE negotiated an accord with its hospital unions that all unvaccinated workers would have to wear a mask,
Andersen said: Yes, they agreed to strictly follow the orders of the hospital management. But, even so: if you cant get
the consent of all players, you simply wont be successful.
Big-time results but pandemic only
Andrsns wll thought-out plan ofattack dlivrd solid rsults. uring
th 2009/2010 pandmic flu sason th
rat of vaccination among UKes halth
car workrs shot up to an amazing 74
prcnt, thus catapulting th hospital
far abov th national avrag. But this
victory did not last for long. By th
tim th 2010/2011 flu sason rolld
around, th HC slf-vaccination rat
plummtd to 27 prcnt.
hat happnd and why?
askd our HCs why thy rjctd
vaccination this yar and th rasons
wr fairly prdictabl, obsrvd
Andrsn.
Among th main rasons was th
misprcption that immunity lingrs
from th prvious yars pandmic fluvaccin. thr rasons givn wr that
vaccins provid insufficint protction
or that thy caus influnza. And thr
wr also concrns about advrs
raction to vaccins and simply far of
th ndl, sh said.
Food for thought
Mandator vaccination (as successfull implemented in the Universit
Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf) is a controversial strateg that pits
healthcare worker autonom against patient safet. The ethical
argument that healthcare workers have a moral obligation to first
protect themselves and then to protect their patients seems to
graduall win ground. The discussion continues
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Indd, th Nthrlands bgan
organising its stakholdr dbat as
arly as th bginning of th 1990s
with th cration of th utch Influnza
Foundation (IF) in 1992 a broad
coalition of public halth authoritis,
profssional mdical associations,
pharmacists, insuranc companis,
disas-spcific patints groups and
associations rprsnting th ldrly.ith its funding shouldrd 50-50 by
industry and th Ministry of Halth, IF
was th countrys first public-privat
partnrship in th halth sctor, and it
usd all modrn mdia to driv hom its
cntral and positiv mssag ork
on your halth! about th bnfits of
influnza vaccination.
This was a push-and-pull stratgy to
gt patints in to s thir doctor, said
van essn.
The Netherlands is among the few European countries that achieve a high rate
of seasonal flu vaccination ear after ear. For example, WHOs recommendedvaccination uptake target for the elderl (i.e., 65 ears and older) in 2010 was 75
percent. The Dutch were not onl the onl nation in Europe that reached that goal
but exceeded it with more than 80-percent of its elderl with accompaning risks
getting vaccinated.
We have a vaccination rate of around 60-to-70 percent for the population as
a whole. And for the common childhood vaccinations like measles and rubella
we have rates of almost 95%, speaker Ted van Essen, general practitioner and
adviser to the Dutch Health Council, told his ESWI audience. But weve been
refining the strateg for a long time.
THE NETHERLANDS:ACCINATIONFRONT-RUNNER
1,5%
71
lung
90
80
70
60
50
40
3020
10
0
Influenza vaccination rate by risk group in The Netherlands, 2010
80 81 83 63 75 83 61
hart M kidny GPs 60+ 60+ H 60+ L
Tackn MAJB t al
Although th IF casd in 1996,
utch GPs pickd up its idas and hav
bn running with thm vr sinc to
visibl ffct, givn th countrys high
vaccination rat.
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T H e F I S T e U P e A N I N F L U e N Z A S U M M I T
B U S S e L S , 2 6 M A Y 2 0 1 1
Vaccination Dutch-style
A number of success factors account for the Netherlands impressive vaccination rates. According to van Essen, these
include:
one professional held accountable: the GP with a patient list system a national electronic medical records system that allows physicians and HCWs to identify names and addresses of
all at-risk patients, (i.e., 30% of the population)
free vaccinations for patients at-risk
a guaranteed fee for GPs who administer the vaccine
centralised government purchasing of vaccines
easy paperwork for the GP and convenient vaccinations hours including evenings in certain cases for patients
a simple campaign based on a postcard invitation-with-flyer from the GP
systematic feedback to evaluate effort and results.
Ive tried to find the one reason why this whole system works so well, but thats not the answer, he said. Its really
the balance and combination of all these factors the shotgun approach that explains its effectiveness.
It dont come easy
Th Nthrlands high influnza vaccinrats do not com casually: thyr th
rsult of yars of stakholdr ffort and
positiv aggrssiv campaigns to gt
utch patints in to s thir doctor
initiativs which van essn strongly
supports. You only hav to look at th
bfor-and-aftr rsults, h said.
Bfor 1991, th public got an annual
lttr from halth authoritis and som
invitation cards from industry. Thr was
no f-for-srvic for th GP and th
patint had to go to th pharmacy with a
prscription.
From 1992 on with th cration of th
utch Influnza Foundation and othr
initiativs things bgan to chang,
howvr. Patint magazins carrying
th vaccin mssag wnt from 23
in 1992 to 45 in 1996 and nwspapr
articls jumpd from 34 to 271! h said.
Obligatory HCW vaccination?
Th utch vaccination succss rat notonly applis to at-risk groups and th
population in gnral but also to its
HCs. In 2009, for xampl, pandmic
vaccination rats among its GPs was 85
prcnt and that for HC staff was 76
prcnt. evn for that yars sasonal
flu vaccination, th rats wr 63 and 60
prcnt, rspctivly.
Most countris would b mor than
plasd with thos lvls but van essn
thinks big and controvrsially. I
think w should just mak vaccination
mandatory for HCs, h said.
That sparkd no littl dbat from his
eSI summit listnrs, with som
participants arguing against th ida
out of concrn that HCs might confid
to a patint that thy wr forcd to gt
a vaccination, thus snding th wrong
mssag.
Van essn concdd that point, butsaid its a qustion of public ducation.
ethically, you could also argu th issu
from th othr dirction: that HCs
hav a moral obligation to first protct
thmslvs and thn to protct thir
patints. Aftr all, th hpatitis B
vaccin is mandatory for surgons or
ls thy ar xcludd from trating a
patint. So thr is a prcdnt for such
an approach and I think w should build
on that.
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Th convntional imag of th hospital
pharmacist as dispnsing mdicin from
a littl window in th hospital basmnt
is long outdatd, said Vulto. Indd, his
profssion is on of many that contributsto todays incrasingly complx
stakholdr dialogu on vaccination
policy and how to implmnt it.
hav 30 staff working in our
hospital who ar all focusd on
spcialisd pharmacological car,
said Vulto. Noting that post-graduat
spcialisation is now indispnsabl in
th pharmacological sctor, h said
hospital pharmacists hav turnd
into spcialists daling with high-
risk influnza patints who hav to b
innovativ and quick in thir dcisions,
as that oftn mans th diffrnc
btwn lif or dath.
bsrving that his profssion camout of th clost in h 1960s, Vulto
said hospital pharmacists ar now
far mor srvic-orintd. Today
its car orintation: spcialisd
pharmacological car basd on
prsonalisd mdicin and bdsid
pharmacy tchniqus.
Vulto is a mmbr of th 21,000-strong
europan Association of Hospital
Pharmacists and chif ditor of itsin-hous publication, th europan
Journal of Hospital Pharmacy.
Traditionall, hospitals in-house pharmacists were largel unseen for the
important role the pla in delivering the right medicine to the patient and the
right pharmacological advice to medical staff. But pharmacists increasingl plaa pro-active role in hospitals b intervening, often at bedside, as the flu patients
specialised pharmaceutical care manager, as Arnold ulto, professor of Hospital
Pharmac & Practical Therapeutics at Erasmus Universit Medical Center, told
the ESWI summit.
COMING OUTFROM THE HOSPITALBASEMENT
Food for thought
Studies have shown that influenza vaccination of healthcare
workers reduces emploee illness and absenteeism. In nursing
home settings, vaccination of healthcare workers decreases the
impact of influenza on the residents. And et, vaccination rates
among European healthcare workers are generall low.
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T H e F I S T e U P e A N I N F L U e N Z A S U M M I T
B U S S e L S , 2 6 M A Y 2 0 1 1
Pharmacists: advocating vaccination in the hospital
If our sector wants to address the vaccination challenge, then we need to move away from promoting the balancedview and go for a more pro-active stance, Vulto told the ESWI summit. But this means that the public needs a
consistent vaccine message that is repeated over and over again, following a long term communications strategy.
According to Vulto, such a strategy should be based on a set of simple, but positive messages about the benefits of
vaccination, namely that:
it stimulates ones own immune system to protect himself, thus mimicking natural immunity
the responsible citizen gets vaccinated to prevent the virus from spreading to family, friends and colleagues
the call-of-duty is even stronger for health care staff to protect vulnerable hospitalised patients
Vulto said the level of mis-information about vaccines that circulates among HCWs can be very persistent, despite the facts.
Ive heard everything from fears that the vaccine is dangerous to a refusal to be manipulated. It is astonishing to
learn sometimes how little hospital staff know about vaccinations, he said. But it also shows that they need anindependent information source, which hospital pharmacists can and should play as informed facilitators.
hil hospital pharmacists ar today
rgardd as indpndnt information
sourc on pharmacuticals in th
hospital, Vulto said thir ability to
provid indpndnt advic on influnza
cass dpnds havily on rapid accss
to up-to-dat and rliabl informationsourcs, which was not always th cas
as th 2009 pandmic unfoldd.
Digging for the data fast
Pharmacological information about
th 2009 pandmic was unvn and
somwhat confusing, according to Vulto.
Although th europ Mdicins Agncy,
H and various national instituts
vntually providd nough pandmic
vaccin information to nabl him and
othr pharmacists to proprly advis
thir hospital staff, Vulto said it was an
uphill battl to displ misplacd public
fars about th vaccin.
Som countris providd information
fastr to pharmacists than othrs.
Grmany put out wkly updats during
th pandmic, which wr vry usful.
But th transparncy of information inothr countris could hav bn much
bttr, h said.
This was our first xprinc with larg-
scal pandmic vaccin production and
it raisd a lot of qustions within our
community. No on rally knw what
typ of antign or adjuvant was bst, for
xampl, or whthr w should hav
rcommndd boostr shots for at-risk
groups, h said.
evntually, howvr, w found good
data about typs of antign and antign
sparing stratgis, information about
boostr guidlins and updats about
vaccin production limitations. In th
nd w did gt th guidanc w ndd
on ths issus, obsrvd Vulto.
The European Associationof Hospital Pharmacists
AeHP is th fdration of nationalassociations of hospital pharmacists,uniting mor than 21.000 hospitalpharmacists in 31 countris.
The European Journal
of Hospital Pharmacyis th official eAHP journal.www.ahp.u
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I was dirctly involvd in this campaign
and it took a lot of prparatory work
to bring th public and our pharmacy
sctor on board, said Costa.
Th rform allowd pharmacis
to xpand thir scop of activity into
nw aras, including immunisation. In
addition to th vaccination intrvntion
modl it dfind, ANF providd a training
programm to prpar pharmacis for
th nw campaign and othr support
masurs.
This was a short-trm but massiv
training programm for pharmacists all
across th country, said Costa, adding
that ANP providd a list of nurss for
intrstd pharmacis: Basically,
w offrd our constitunts a choic
btwn hiring a nurs or having
training thmslvs.
Taking plac ovr a 12-wk priod
in advanc of th 2008/09 flu sason,
th programm saw narly half of
Portugals 1914 pharmacists compltth vaccination training cours.
As a rsult, th numbr of flu vaccins
administrd in Portugus pharmacis
during th 2008/09 sason ros to as
much as on-fifth of th national total,
with pharmacists thmslvs as
opposd to on-sit nurss carrying
out th grat majority of immunisation
srvic on thir prmiss.
B stroke of luck Portugal launched a new national flu vaccine campaign just
before the 2009 pandemic struck. A ke part of the initiative was a new law to
allow the countrs pharmacies to administer flu shots.
The countrs National Association of Pharmacies (ANP) was heavil involved in
the effort, designing the intervention model and persuading its sector and the
public to embrace it. How far this ma go is uncertain, but the results to date
have been encouraging, according to Suzete Costa, pharmacist and researcher
who addressed the ESWI summit on ANPs behalf.
ACCINATION TAKE-OFF:PORTUGALS PHARMABLAZE NEW PATH
1,5%
0,7%
5,5%
2,3%
8,4%
3,1%
11,3%
0 50 100
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1,0%1,4%
Estimate of the contribution of pharmacies for the influenza
immunization coverage in Portugal in 2008/9
% of vaccins administrd in th participating pharmaciscomparativly to thos who snt thir rcords
Total < 65 yars 65 yars
Thousandsofpatientsvaccinated
inpharmacies
Sourc: CeFA
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CISTSPrescription-vs-dispensation
Costa has strong, if not controvrsial,
viws about th pro-activ rol that
pharmacists should play in hr countrys
battl to prvnt influnza.
think qualifid community
pharmacists in europ should b
abl to administr flu shots to high-
risk patint groups such as th agd
without a prscription. This could b
don via a protocol with national halth
authoritis somthing similar to what
occurs in th Unitd Stats, sh told
hr eSI audinc.
Sh holds th viw that, at th vry
minimum, pharmacis and pharmacists
should b includd in flu pandmic
stratgis, particularly whn a rapid
rspons that must b administrd
clos to th population is rquird.
This would srv to promot prvntiv
masurs and offr accss to ssntial
mdicins and srvics, obsrvd
Costa.
For th 2009 pandmic howvr Lisbon
ruld that th pandmic vaccins would
b handld via national halth cntrs,
allowing sasonal flu to b administrd
as an option at pharmacis.
How much farthr ANP can carry out its
intrvntion goals rmains to b sn.
Thr is a split btwn thos who
prscrib and thos who dispns in our
country, vn if most mdicin coms
from pharmacis, whthr rimbursd
or not, sh said.
Costa acknowldgd, howvr, that
th sctors libralisation may hav its
limits. In our country thr ar crtain
vaccins for prgnant womn, for
xampl that must b don at national
halth car cntrs, so that is not part of
our ANF plan, sh said.
Portugals intervention model for its pharmacists
ANF based its intervention model on the US experience with its own pharmacists. Models were developed for vaccine
delivery, emergency procedures and the creation of immunisation records to help Portugals pharmacists provide the
new service. All pharmacies were invited to participate, with ANF placing special emphasis on targeting older adults
those 65 years and above who had an influenza vaccine prescription.
The wider intervention models objectives were to:
raise public awareness of the new pharmacy-based service inform target populations about the benefits of immunisation
track the percentage of vaccines administered in pharmacies and how pharmacies contributed to the national
influenza immunisation rate
The results were encouraging, according to Costa.
Approximately 60 percent of Portugals 2670 pharmacies participated in ANFs intervention programme and of these,
nearly half sent in immunisation data to ANF. Even more striking, 91 percent of all the immunisations carried out in the
drug stores were performed by the pharmacists themselves, with each pharmacy treating an average of 206 patients.
The positive trend has continued since then, with the number of participating pharmacies rising from 1,588 in 2008/09 to
1,622 in 2009/10. Meanwhile, the number of pharmacies that sent in data jumped a spectacular 33 percent from 733 to 1,033.
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kp a rgular dialogu with all
four UK halth dpartmnts rgarding
vaccins, production volums and
futur planning possibl changs to
govrnmnt rcommndations, saidStubbins.
Indd, UVIGs companis ar tightly
pluggd into th UKs annual cycl of
activity, starting in Fbruary with Hs
flu virus guidlins and nding with th
last dlivris of vaccins in cmbr
ach yar. Th group also works with
clustrs of GPs, who collctivly
ngotiat and buy thir vaccins stocks
dirctly from th manufacturrs still a
rar approach across europ.
On the uptake
Th UKs approach to vaccination has
dlivrd good rsults so far, particularly
to at-risk groups. For th last fiv yarsth uptak rat for th UKs ovr-65
group has hovrd at avrag of 70
prcnt ach yar and somtims up
to 75 prcnt, said Stubbins. v
also sn th vaccination uptak among
HCs shift from 16 prcnt in 2008 to
34 prcnt in 2010/11.
According to Stubbins th UK still
nds to improv its rat of uptak
for th ovrall population, howvr.
Noting that on of th problms was
th lack of a national mdia campaign
in 2010, h said this dfinitly had
an impact on uptak. think this
should b rinstatd. thr tasks
rquir chcking th programms
ovrall cost ffctivnss and rviwingintrvntion options such as lowring
th UKs currnt 65-yar ag limit for
fr vaccins to th ldrly.
H also thinks thr should b tightr
collaboration among all vaccination
stakholdrs and a gratr willingnss
on industrys part stand up and addrss
issus in public. nd to maintain
public confidnc in our sctor so w
nd to addrss ths issus in an
organisd and consistnt mannr, h
said.
The UK is a strong supporter of public-private partnerships and the pharmaceutical
sector is no exception.
Representing seven vaccine manufacturers, the UK accine Industr Group
(UIG) is the sectors polic voice and it liaises closel with government
health authorities, GPs and other HCWs and the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industr to raise public awareness of the benefits of vaccination,
Richard Stubbins, UIG chairman, told the summit.
ACCINATION IN THE UK:STRONGINDUSTRy-HCW
INTERACTION
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Stakeholder Questions to UVIG
Q: Your HCW vaccination uptake rate in2008 rose steadily from 16 to 35 percent
for 2010/11. How did this happen?
Stubbins: Part of th ris was du to
th pandmic, and part to th strong
mphasis givn by th NHS [th UKs
National Halth Srvic] to mak sur
that HCs wr immunisd.
Q: Is it common practice that vaccination
information leaflets are circulated in the UK
with a vaccine manufacturers name on it?
Stubbins: Th laflt is snt out by th
doctor, but it dos contain th companysnam bcaus thy paid for it.
Q: Wouldnt it be better to remove their
name from them?
Stubbins: spit th succss of th UKs
influnza campaign, thr is still a nd
to boost confidnc in vaccins. Thr
is skpticism toward govrnmnt and, it
is tru, also industry. But w think our
sctor is upholding its part by providing
postrs, cards and signs that ar bright
and impactful in ordr to mphasiz th
risks and th nd for vaccination.
Q: Do you see any fundamental changes
needed to the UKs programme?
Stubbins: An ag-basd stratgy would
b much asir to implmnt than a
risk-basd on. That said, it would still
hav to offr protction for all at-risk
groups and includ financial incntivs
for GPs and th participation of industry.
Fact file: The UKs flu vaccine programme
The UKs national programme for vaccination is based on:
priority for 65 years and over
priority of at-risk groups that include chronic illness, healthcare workers and pregnant women
procurement linked to direct purchases by GPs from manufacturers
reimbursement by government to GPs for the cost of vaccines
financial incentives for GPs to procure vaccines and administer them to all those eligible
Why has this been successful?
Such an approach sets clear and consistent targets nationally and is reinforced by immunisation coordinators working
at the local level, recommendations from the governments Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and by the procurementincentives for doctors, observed Stubbins.
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Of the millions who suffer from influenza each ear in France between two and
eight million people annuall the effects of the disease hit the countrs elderl
the hardest. How to work with the government and scientific communit to abate
these and other flu victims is among the main polic goals of Frances industr-
supported Group dexpertise et dinformation sur la Grippe (GEIG), Bruno Lina,
chairman of GEIGs scientific advisor board, told the summit.
RAISING FRENCHAWARENESSABOUT INFLUENZA
Vaccinometre: Real-time monitoring of vaccine uptake in > 65
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Similar to th UKs vaccination
campaign approach, Francs scintific
and industry stakholdrs work closly
with ach othr and with th national
Ministry of Halth to rach out to th
gnral public. hil all sgmnts of
th population ar targtd, particular
ffort has gon toward prsuading
Francs ovr-65 citizns to protct
thmslvs against sasonal influnza.
Th ovr-65 crowd may qual only
5-to-10 prcnt of influnza victims
ach yar in Franc, but thy rprsnt
90 prcnt of all daths rlatd to th
disas, said Lina, adding that on
of GeIGs ky functions is to carry out
ral-tim survillanc of vaccin uptak
across this at-risk group in Franc.
GeIG has bn shaking up idas
sinc th bginning by continually
launching its own initiativs, Lina told
his audinc. For xampl, it bgan
following of vaccin uptak trnds in
1990, following by pandmic planning
as arly as 1993. By 2008 it was doing
ral-tim survillanc of vaccin uptak
and, for th 2011-2012 flu sason, it will
organis xhibits in hospitals on th
bnfits of vaccination.
do this to track th trnd
vaccination uptak during a campaign
so that rsourcs can b rdirctd if
th uptak is infrior to xpctations.
This also has th addd advantag of
providing data to policymakrs about
th trnd, h said.
GEIG: how does it work?
GEIG was founded in 1986 to promote knowledge about influenza and its vaccination, and is financed by five commercial
laboratories involved in the distribution of vaccines across France. The five are: Sanofi Pasteur MSD, GSK, Pierre
Fabre, Abbot Products SAS and Novartis Vaccines.
With its industrial support balanced by the independent expertise of GEIGs Scientific Advisory Board, the organisation
has been directly involved in Frances national influenza vaccination campaigns for the past 25 years.
The organisation devotes much of its effort to awareness-raising about the facts surrounding vaccination. It worksclosely with French health authorities during vaccination campaigns and with the scientific community via annual
influenza conferences, GEIGs website and scientific journals.
It also liaises with the press across all media channels to provide regular updates on the evolution of flu viruses,
descriptions of its epidemiology and trends in vaccine uptake. We organise so many regular briefings with the press on
all of these subjects that you could even argue that we are doing the duty of the Ministry of Health! said Lina. Thats
how well known we are to the French press.
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Noting that SAI is charactrizd
as dvloping ovr svn days and
rquiring ovrnight hospitalization,
whos symptoms includ a history
of fvr of at last 38C coupld with
coughing and shortnss of brath or
difficulty in brathing, Brown said good
survillanc mans w nd th ag
stratification for th virology, and th
outcom data for SAI patints: how
many did, how many wr hospitalisd
and how many wnt into intnsiv car?
And th data has to b comparabl
across rgions, btwn sasons andgoing back in tim.
Hs survillanc of SAI in europ
startd in 2001 with about 14 nations and
is now widly carrid out in coopration
with th eUs europan Cntr for
isas Prvntion and Control (eCC).
Today it is don by about 50 europan
countris, using th platform calld
euroFlu, which allows ach to obtain
influnza survillanc and burdn data
about SAI, obsrvd Brown.
Sentinel flu surveillance
Brown said SAI survillanc
ncompasss four broad goals:
monitoring th virus typs and subtyps
and thir antignic and gntic
charactristics of locally circulating
flu strains for annual vaccin strainslction; providing rprsntativ
viruss for vaccin strain production;
monitoring locally circulating viruss for
thir snsitivity to antivirals; and finally
tracking clinical data from outpatints
to dtrmin th timing and intnsity of
th nxt influnza sason.
Sentinel surveillance is the collection and analsis of data b institutionschosen for their geographic location and their abilit to accuratel diagnose and
report high ualit data. This is ke to the WHOs goal of collecting virological
information on patients with smptoms of severe acute respirator infection
(SARI), often a first sign of an influenza outbreak, Dr. Caroline Brown, head of
the respirator pathogens programme at WHOs Europe office in Copenhagen,
explained to the ESWI summit.
WHO & FLU:HELPING EUROPEMONITOR ITSELF
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According to Brown th countris of
strn europ hav a good track
rcord of monitoring SAI and sasonalinflunza vaccin us. But europs
southrn and astrn stats ar
still strngthning thir community
survillanc and introducing sntinl
systms for th survillanc of SAI, sh
said, adding that th gratr challng
and nd for sntinl survillanc lis
mainly to th ast of europ in th
Balkans and Cntral Asia.
As a rsult, Hs euroFlu systm
was xtndd in 2009 across th
euro-Asian continnt to mbrac thfollowing countris (with ussia split
into svn districts):
Albania
Armnia
Gorgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Malta
omania
public of Moldova
ussian Fdration
Srbia Ukrain
Th survillanc systm shows that
Kyrgyzstan has th lowst influnza
vaccin uptak of all, sh said.
Stakeholder Questions to WHO
Q: The Commission gets a weekly report to see if there is any influenza event that needs to be shared with the member
states. How is this done at your end?
Brown: We coordinate our surveillance data with the ECDC; its as straightforward as that.
Q: Do national systems in Europe overlap with EuroFlu and the ECDC?
Brown: EU countries report to the ECDC, which automatically transfers the data to EuroFlu and then to WHOs own
FLUID [Flu Informed Decisions] system. This is antigenic information were talking about influenza A & B and other
characterisations that go to EuroFlu via ECDC.
Q: Is there any redundancy between those systems?
Brown: Technically yes. But politically its difficult to get all the countries to report.
Q: What is the more urgent SARI surveillance task in your view?
Brown: We think country-level collaboration is the priority to improve data quality via legal and technical aspects, with
a stress on sustainable components. Work is also needed to gather denominator data [population statistics] for their
hospital impact and preliminary burden estimates.
Q: Are you happy with the results so far?
Brown: Well, these systems [across south-eastern Europe and Central Asia] are still young and we all are still learningthe best practices. But so far, the SARI clinical data are consistent with virological trends in the participating countries.
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A ky pillar to th US govrnmnts
(USG) flu vaccination stratgy was th
govrnmnts dcision in 2010 to finally
rcommnd univrsal flu vaccination for
all popl abov th ag of six months.
This was twinnd with a standing
targt vaccination goal of 90 prcnt
and intrvntion bginning as soon
as sasonal influnza vaccins ar
availabl and continuing throughout
th sason.
hat was th rational for moving awayfrom th USGs prvious st of tailord
risk-basd rcommndations?
Th vaccination guidlins had simply
grown too complx to b practical,
said Tan. In 2007 w had 12 spcific
vaccination targt groups, and it was just
too much to ask GPs to rmmbr all
this. ith a univrsal rcommndation,
thr is no ambiguity about th issu.
Also, it was mor difficult for patints
to slf-idntify basd on risk conditions,
whil th covrag lvl across all th
targt groups was, in gnral, low.
But vn a mor straightforward,
asy-to-undrstand guidlin dosnt
guarant that vaccination rats will
automatically ris, said Tan. No mattr
how w ndavour to ducat th public
or giv away fr vaccins or try to mak
th whol procss fun and convnint
som organisations vn throw pizza-
plus-vaccination partis th rat still
only gos up to about 75 prcnt in th
US. simply hit this stagnation point.
For xampl, th US vaccination ratachivd undr th nw univrsal
rcommndation for th 2010/11 flu
sason ros only slightly compard to
th 2009/10 sason: from 41 prcnt
of all popl ovr six months of ag to
42 prcnt. Morovr, th rsults for
many sub-catgoris of th population
wr not much bttr, with vaccination
for th ovr-18 crowd bumping up only
on prcntag point, from 40 to 41. Th
rspons of th ovr-65 population wasncouraging, howvr, with vaccination
rising from 70 prcnt in 2009/10 to as
much as 75 prcnt th following yar.
As for vaccination of halth car
workrs and how to st th conditions
for this to happn, Tans position was
unambiguous.
nd a nw modl such as
mandatory vaccination for HCs, h
said. You can asily gt 90 prcnt
covrag if its a condition of mploymnt.
Not surprisingly, in hospitals whr that
is th cas, wr sing 99 prcnt of
thir HCs gtting vaccinatd.
Pushing the envelope
Pointing to what h calld a failur of
th US publics halth blif modl,
Tan said th govrnmnt is working
with a broad rang of stakholdrs to
push th vaccination nvlop in all
dirctions. For xampl, US pharmacis
now aggrssivly markt thir vaccins
stocks which has addd th sidbnfit of driving patints to thir GPs
to gt a prscription, said Tan.
Arguabl, the US government has pushed polic innovation and market
mechanisms farther than an other nation in the effort to push up vaccination
rates across its 300 million-plus population. Is this the wa ahead for European
countries or does it work best in the free-for-all market conditions of America?
While some aspects of the US approach ma be too daring for some, theres no
discounting the countrs vigorous stakeholder dialogue on vaccination or its
willingness to experiment, as Litjen Tan, co-chair of the US National Influenza
accine Summit and director for medicine and public health at the American
Medical Association (AMA), told his ESWI listeners.
GETTING RESULTS,US-STyLE
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Gnral mrchandis stors ar also
gtting into th act, with mor than a
quartr of th abov-65 crowd in th USgtting thir vaccins at larg discount
pharmacis or vn at suprstors
such as alMart.
hy ar th stors doing this?
Bcaus of dmand: many patints find
it inconvnint to go to thir doctors
offic. This is a vry intrsting trnd
that w ar bginning to s in th US,
h obsrvd.
Stakeholder Questions to Tan
Q: What about monitoring if you do
vaccination in supermarkets?
Tan: Admittdly th situation in th
Unitd Stats is a bit diffrnt. At-risk
patints about 40 prcnt of thm
gt thir vaccination from thir GPs.
Th othr 60 prcnt dos this via
pharmacis, rtail stors and othr
accss points.
Q: Who pays for the vaccine?
Tan: ur paymnt systm is vry
complicatd. Th US govrnmnt pays
if th patint has no insuranc or if h
is ovr 65 via our Mdicar systm for
th ldrly. For all othrs btwn:
Fact File: The annual US influenza summit
The US National Influenza Vaccine Summit (NIVS) started with 30 people 11 years ago and now has 160 participants
and many organizations, said Litjen Tan, NIVS co-chair.
The membership of NIVS includes a huge diversity of stakeholders: from vaccine manufacturers and distributors,
federal agencies and professional medical entities to hospitals to employers, consumers and advocacy groups 130
in all. This allows a full 360-degree view of all the moving parts in the US associated with flu immunisation, he said.
Aside from its educational activities, NIVS also organises regular communications between its stakeholders via
meetings, email updates and weekly conference calls. This kind of face-to-face meeting, with all partners present,provides a safe venue to raise issues and to discuss potential solutions honestly, he said.
privat insuranc foots th bill. This
poss som cost challngs sinc, for
instanc, suprmarkt vaccinations ar
basd on a cash-out-of-pockt pric of
around $25. This is don via a standing
ordr of th GP not via a prscription.
Q: What is your main challenge for this
coming year?
Tan: Maintaining th gains wv
alrady achivd. Th ovrall vaccination
covrag among adults with risk
conditions is about 35 prcnt and in
that rgard w havnt don as wll as
europ. Boosting vaccination covrag
among HCs in long-trm halth car
cntrs is anothr ky goal for us.
Q: What were the more noticeable
effects of the US governments universal
vaccination recommendation?
Tan: ll, it surly had somthing to do
with th ris in child vaccination from 29
prcnt for 2008/09 to around 50 prcnt
in 2010/11. Also, th vaccination rats for
prgnant womn ros dramatically from
6-19 prcnt to 49 prcnt in 2010/11.
Ths rsults wr dlightful for us.
Place of vaccination,persons aged 65 years,
United States,March 2011
Sourc: National Flu Survys,
March 2011, CC unpublishd data
thr non-mdical plac School orkplac Pharmacy / drug stor /
suprmarkt / suprstor
thr mdically-rlatdplac
Halth dpartmnt Clinic / halth cntr octor's offic
5% 1%4%
26%
2%2%
20%
40%
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hil in gnral th public do nottrust th mdia, paradoxically it
ovrwhlmingly rlis on th mdia as
its main sourc for information and
th pandmic was drivn by th mdia,
Nubrt told th eSI summit.
H said it was imprativ that th
mdical world undrstand vn if it
dosnt accpt th rol that hyp plays
in th mdia. Journalists hav to us
xaggration just to satisfy thir ditorsand thir organisations ban-countrs
[accountants and financial officrs] so
that a story will sll, said Nubrt.
Thr obstacls stand in th way of
good scintific and mdical rporting,
according to Nubrt:
th commrcial natur of journalism
th low broadcast prim-tim priority
assignd by ditors to scintific topics
th intrnal pcking ordr of mdia
organisations
Th biggst obstacl is an ditorsranking of nws topics for covrag.
Halth topics may b of utmost intrst
to th public, but at th sam tim its
intrst in gnral scinc coms only
aftr sports, ntrtainmnt and politics
in that ordr. Unfortunatly, scinc
is simply not prim-tim foddr,
obsrvd Nubrt. Also, it is hard for a
journalist to rport on uncrtaintis: you
cant convinc popl that pandmic flu
is a major thrat whn most hav notxprincd it.
Anothr major factor that runs against
good scintific rporting in th prss is
th pcking ordr or intrnal hirarchy
of mdia organizations.
nc a halth-rlatd topic such as
influnza pandmic riss to a crtain
conomic or political lvl, it is takn
away from th spcialisd journalists
who know th subjct, h said. It
thn gts handd ovr to th prssorganisations star rportr and this
is whr th mistaks bgin: ths ar
journalists who dont first chck thir
storis with th othr rportrs who
know th subjct.
Finally, Nubrt said thr wr limits
to how much information th individual
can procss in an ra of information
ovrload.
Though h insistd that mdical
rporting by mass mdia has improvd
in th last 20 yars, h qustiond
whthr this has ld to mor mdical
litracy across th population in
gnral. hil th lvl of th publics
uptak of mdical information is still
an opn qustion, on thing is crtain:
scinc is progrssing fastr than th
mdia can rport on it and fastr than
popl can undrstand it, h said.
How should influenza scientists and industr deal with the media during a major
public health incident when even the most objective medical facts can be ignored
or distorted b journalists looking to exaggerate a stor beond its legitimate
news value? Can the flu research communit ameliorate this situation or is itcondemned to live with the vagaries of the press?
The 2009 pandemic was one example of how ill-informed news reporting can
stoke a health panic or create a backlash against authoritative medical voices,
according to Hanns-Joachim Neubert, president of the European Union of
Science Journalists Associations.
MEDIA, MEDICINE & THE PUBLIC:A LOE-HATE AFFAIR
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Self-interest: media have to come
clean, too
Nubrt was critical of europspharmacutical industry for using
what h calld non-transparnt
communications tchniqus such as
advrtorials.
Ths look lik ral articls, but which
carry no industry nam abov thm.
Th public cannot s th diffrnc
btwn srious portals and factual
ons usd by som companis for
vry aggrssiv but non-transparnt
markting, dclard Nubrt. Srious
scinc journalists hav larnd to b
vry suspicious about thm.
Svral mmbrs of th audinc took
issu with that point of viw. n industry
official countrd: I tak xcption towhat you say about industry. Vaccin
manufacturrs wr vry carful during
th pandmic to str clar of any
commnts about public policy or how
to manag th pandmic. focusd
on manufacturing th vaccins and
antivirals, and that was that: industry
cam out clan on this.
hras scintists ar traind to list
potntial conflicts of intrst, Nubrt
admittd that for journalists a story
has to b sold to somon. For public-
ownd channls, this is not an issu.
But for th pay-TV, its tru you hav
to hyp things to gt thm pickd
up.Ultimatly, h said th bst scincrporting flows from authoritativ
sourcs whom th rportr fls h
can trust. I hav about 50 contacts
who I trust but it rquirs tim to build
this up. You cannot do it with a singl
prss confrnc. Mdical scintists
nd to do th sam thing: build thos
rlationships with th prss basd on
trust. Thn you can sll your mssag,
h said.
Damage Control: Tips for Dealing with the Press
According to German science editor Hanns-Joachim Neubert, the best way for the influenza research community to
avoid getting burned by the press is to stick to some basic guidelines. These call on stakeholders to:
be precise and open about their research results and the latters funding background information: who paid for it?
pre-identify the media that you want to target
pay close attention to the way the journalist summarises your answers to his questions accept that journalists need to be critical but that they can be your partner, too if the trust is there.
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SUMMITCNCLUSINS
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T H e F I S T e U P e A N I N F L U e N Z A S U M M I T
B U S S e L S , 2 6 M A Y 2 0 1 1
In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its vaccination
recommendations for seasonal influenza, urging ever Member State to annuall
immunize at least 75% of its senior citizens against influenza b 2010. In 2011,
most of the European countries do not even come close to the WHO recommended
vaccination rates, despite European health care sstems being amongst the best
in the world. In fact, influenza still claims more lives than traffic accidents,
especiall among the risk groups, which include the elderl and patients with
chronic disease like asthma, COPD, diabetes, heart disease
While EU countries are lagging behind Northern American countries such as
Canada, the influenza partners at the European Influenza Summit (including
international public health authorities like WHO and the EU Directorate-General
for Health and Consumers) agreed that onl b ensuring collaboration between
all parties involved in the field of influenza, Europe will be able to lower the
impact of the disease on public health. Illustrating the need of joining forces in
a decisive partnership, WHO and EU representatives emphasized the importance
of exploring was to involve additional healthcare groups in the fight against
influenza.
ESWI had anticipated this call b bringing together health professionals like
hospital pharmacists, general practitioners, communit pharmacists and
hospital managers as well as organizations of the elderl, diabetes patients,
respirator disease patients and heart patients in a uniue and fruitful meeting
on 26 Ma 2011. And while the European Scientific Working group on Influenza
had alread been working with public health officials and polic makers on
previous occasions (such as the ESWI Influenza Workshops for Public Health
Officials and the ESWI Influenza Conferences), it more recentl also has been
establishing close working relationships and structural ties with most of the
above stakeholder organizations. Hence, ESWI has now become a true networkof collaborating partners, covering the broad field of influenza.
In the post-summit period, ESWI will continue to expand its network of influenza
stakeholders and to intensif its communication and awareness raising efforts
with them. The European Influenza Summit will be the annual pinnacle of this
partnership collaboration.
On behalf of ESWIs Board of Directors,
Prof Ab Osterhaus
ESWI chair
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