Moa Bejersten , Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Solna, Sweden

1. Eurovaccine Stockholm 11 December 2009 Moa Bejersten, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Solna, Sweden Nur Aksakal, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey Maria José Alvarez Pasquin, Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine, Madrid, Spain Kàlmàn Bartha, National Centre for Epidemiology, Budapest, Hungary Margareta Blennow, Sachs Children's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden Paolo Bonnani, University of Florence, Florence, Italy Natalia Kerbo, Health Protection Inspectorate, Tallinn, Estonia Alenka Kraigher, Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia Miguel A. Mayer, Medical Association of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Robert Muchl, Federal Ministry for Health, Vienna, Austria Hanne Nökleby, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway Adriana Pistol, Institute of Public Health, Bucharest, Romania Mary Robinson, Department of Health, London, UK Pawel Stefanoff, National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw, Poland Pierre Van Damme, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Nadezhda Vladimirova, National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria Joanne Yarwood, Department of Health, London, UK Harald Heijbel, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Solna, Sweden Vaccine Safety: Attitudes, Training and Communication(VACSATC) Controversies about the safety of vaccines have led to reductions in vaccine coverage in many countries. The aim of the VACSATC project is to improve confidence in vaccination programs.

2. The main aims of the VACSATC project have been to improve immunisation programs with respect to: Knowledge about attitudes to immunisation Training of medical and paramedical personnel Number of websites that fulfill quality criteria set by the GACVS(the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety)

3. Organisation VACSATC - A three year project funded by the European Commission DG SANCO and project partners Coordinator Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control Collaborating institutions The Spanish Association of Vaccinology, Spain WHO-Geneva, Switzerland WHO-EURO, Copenhagen, Denmark Department of Informatics, Lund University, Sweden Sociedad Espanola de Medicina y Comunitaria, Madrid, Spain University of Alicante, Spain Partner institutions Federal Ministry for Health, Austria Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway Medical Association of Barcelona, Spain Institute of Public Health, Romania National Institute of Hygiene, Poland Gazi University, Turkey National Centre for Epidemiology, Hungary University of Antwerp, Belgium Sachs Children's Hospital, Sweden Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Sweden Institute of Public Health, Slovenia University of Florence, Italy Health Protection Inspectorate, Estonia Department of Health, England National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Bulgaria

4. Attitudes to vaccinations Systematic studies of attitudes to pediatric vaccinations are currently only carried out in the UK. Results • A collection of guidelines on methods, briefly describing social research approaches that can be used in this kind of work, has been developed by the Department of Health, UK. • Studies on attitudes to immunisations have been conducted in eight countries. Partners England Department of Health, London (Coordinating partner) Estonia Health Protection Inspectorate, Tallinn Norway Norwegian Institute of Public Health Poland National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw Romania Institute of Public Health, Bucharest Slovenia Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana Sweden Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm Turkey GAZI University, Ankara

5. Training of healthcare personnel Training of healthcare personnel varies within and between countries in Europe. Results • A survey of current pre-service training has been conducted in seven countries. • A prototype curriculum has been developed and tested at the University of Antwerp (www.ua.be/cev/summerschool). Partners Belgium University of Antwerp (Coordinating partner) Bulgaria National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia Italy University of Florence Spain Medical Association of Barcelona Romania Institute of Public Health, Bucharest Slovenia Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana Sweden Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control Sweden Sachs Children's Hospital, Stockholm Turkey GAZI University, Ankara

6. Vaccine safety websites Partners Austria FM for Health, Vienna www.bmg.gv.at England Department of Health, London www.immunisation.nhs.uk Hungary National Centre for Epidemiology, Budapest www.oltasbiztonsag.hu Norway Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo www.fhi.no/vaksine Poland National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw www.szczepienia.pzh.gov.pl Romania Institute of Public Health, Bucharest www.vaccinnet.ro Spain Medical Association of Barcelona www.siemprevacunados.org and www.vacunasesp.org Sweden Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm www.smi.se/vaccinationer Turkey GAZI University, Ankara www.asiguvenligi.net The World Health Organisation has through the Vaccine Safety Net (VSN) developed criteria for good information practices. Websites meeting the criteria are accredited.(www.who.int/immunization_safety/safety_quality/vaccine_safety_websites) Results Guidelines for website development have been produced. Nine VACSATC partners have built or improved websites. Four websites have been submitted for VSN evaluation.

7. Linked databases Epidemiologic studies on vaccine safety can be done by linking information on immunisations to data on outcomes. Results • A survey was sent out to ten European public health agencies with responsibilities for immunisation programs. • The results showed that personal identifiers could be used to link data on vaccinations in five of the responding countries. • Potential exists for collaborative epidemiologic studies. Partners Sweden Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm (Coordinating partner) Austria Federal Ministry for Health, Vienna Poland National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw Romania Institute of Public Health, Bucharest Turkey GAZI University, Ankara

8. Development of best practice guidelines and application by partners is a useful approach for collaborative projects on vaccine safety. Discussion The collaboration should be extended to all EU, EFTA and candidate countries. Website: www.vacsatc.eu Contact: Moa Bejersten moa.bejersten@smi.se Reference: Alvarez-Pasquín MJ, Heijbel H, Yarwood J, Van Damme P, VACSATC partners. VACSATC (Vaccine safety: attitudes, training and communication): Why such a project?. Euro Surveill. 2009;14(16):pii=19181