Link between public health microbiology and epidemiology necessary to tackle vaccine-preventable diseases in EuropeArchived

Today, the impact of vaccines on Public Health is at the centre of the discussions in the conference organised by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) in Prague. This conference brought together experts to debate the many-sided correlations between vaccines, medicine and society at the dawn of the third millennium.

In his speech, the ECDC Director Marc Sprenger highlighted that there are large pockets of population susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases accumulating in the Member States and that Europe is facing many other challenges. One of them is establishing a closer link between public health microbiologists and epidemiologists at EU level. ECDC is working with a network of laboratories across Europe and, together with Member States, has established a new training programme (EUPHEM) to develop a response capacity for microbiology inside and beyond the European Union.

ECDC is committed to bring vaccine preventable diseases high on the European agenda and support WHO in its goal – the measles and rubella elimination – by:

• Continuously monitoring diseases
• Providing sound and clear information to the decision makers
• Providing evidence-based information to the healthcare professionals
• Providing convincing and transparent information to the public
• Helping EU Member States to reach the under-vaccinated populations
• Helping EU Member States improve the impact of vaccination programmes in a joint effort and across borders