Vaccine hesitancy remains dogged
EU Commission wants to strengthen the application of EU rules on the protection of healthcare workers.
SJS/AD – 04/2019
In
2018, the EU Commission presented a Recommendation to the Member States on how
they can better work together in the fight against vaccine-preventable
diseases. The DSV published an article in March 2018 on the EU Commission’s proposal for 20 measures to combat vaccine
hesitancy. At the start of this year,
the DSV also reported on the Council Recommendation on strengthened cooperation against
vaccine-preventable diseases.
However,
according to a Parliamentary
question submitted to the Commission by MEP
Philippe Juvin, vaccine scepticism among the European population is still on
the rise. He also points out that budgets for vaccination and disease
prevention in the Member States are steadily declining.
In his answer,
EU Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis points out that although the Member States
are responsible for vaccination policy, the Commission supports their
cooperation. The details of the proposed EU vaccination card and a core
European vaccination schedule still have to be worked out. The Commission will further
strengthen the application of existing EU legislation in the health sector,
such as Council Directive
2010/32/EU.
In
terms of the requirements for vaccines, Andriukaitis referred to the guidelines
of the European Medicine Agency and the fact that €590 million in Horizon 2020
funding is being spent on independent research into vaccines. Andriukaitis finished
up by stating that the Commission is planning to set up a platform showing the
results of studies on vaccines as a means of boosting transparency.