Vaccines and Immunization

EPHA Briefing note on the International Health Regulations

In our increasingly interconnected world international travel is more common for more people and over longer distances, leading to greater concerns over the threats posed by infectious disease outbreaks.
There has long been recognition of the need to put in-place a systematic approach for authorities to respond to such in the form of agreements on international cooperation on infectious diseases.
These agreements have evolved from being rather straightforward and covering a limited number (...)

9 Million Euros to fight against TB for the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development announced that they have received a grant of 9 million euros from the Irish government to help combat tuberculosis which continues to kill 2 million people every year.
The grant, which is the second this year for the TB alliance from the Government of Ireland, comes at a time of great concern from World Health authorities over a substantial rise in the number of multiple and drug resistant strains of TB.
The money will be used over a period of (...)

TB alliance to sponsor drug study

The TB alliance are to sponsor a systematic preclinical study to look into various drug combinations for the treatment of tuberculosis.
The study is intended to identify one or more novel drug combinations to shorten TB therapy and aims to rapidly move these combinations into clinical development. It will involve a comprehensive survey of potential drug combinations, which may include compounds of drugs that are already available, drugs in clinical trials and drugs in preclinical (...)

IAVI annual progress report 2003

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has issued a report that provides a detailed summary of work for the period 1 January to 31 December 2003.
Some of the highlights of the European Programme are :
2003 saw a further increase in the involvement of European groups in IAVI’s work. In addition to the clinical trials underway in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and the UK, trials began in Switzerland and Belgium in 2003, and applications were submitted for trials in Germany and The (...)

**Update** Council of the European Union recommendation on seasonal influenza vaccination

On 22 December 2009, the Council of the European Union adopted a recommendation encouraging member states to implement action plans to improve seasonal influenza vaccination coverage.
**Update Council of the European Union adopts recommendation on seasonal influenza vaccination**
The Council of the EU calls for "concerted action" at the EU level of the in order to minimize the impact of seasonal influenza by encouraging vaccination among risk groups and healthcare workers. The main (...)

Exchange of views with Director of ECDC

On 1 September 2009, Zsuzsanna Jakabs, Director of the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), addressed the members of the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee. Dr. Jakabs has since been elected the Regional Director for Europe, of the World Health Organisation.
She began her address by introducing the agency and its work programme. She underlined the value she places on the constructive dialogue between the Parliament and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), (...)

Conference ’Priority Medicines for the Citizens of Europe’

The Dutch presidency organised a high-level conference and dinner on 18th November 2004 from 15.00-22.00h in The Hague.
The objective of the conference was to present a R&D agenda for the research and development of medicines, vaccines and biologicals which meet the real health needs of European citizens.
The conference aimed to identify gaps in the development of pharmaceuticals, introducing a solid methodology for this purpose, ways to reduce the number of these gaps and to establish (...)

EU funds research project on drug resistance

The EU announced on the 28th June 2004 a contribution of €9 million to the “Vigilance against Viral Resistance” (VIRGIL) project.
This project intends to start by studying viral hepatitis and influenza, and then broadening to other viruses.
The network will be based on research and technological platforms to monitor existing, and anticipate future, drug resistance.
The VIRGIL project is coordinated by Lyon’s INSERM research centre and gathers 55 key European field experts from (...)

EU-African clinical trials partnership programme

On 1 September 2003, Science & Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin presented the Europe-Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) to 46 African Health ministers at the WHO conference in Johannesburg.
This 600 million euro programme was launched in 2002, bringing together the EU Member States (plus Norway), developing countries, the private sector and international foundations.
It aims to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis by facilitating and accelerating clinical (...)

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control proposed

EU to Donate "a Substantial Contribution" to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

A draft statement was adopted at the Thessaloniki Summit, carefully stating that the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria would receive a "substantial contribution, on a long-term basis" from the EU.
The US has already committed to contribute with USD 1 Billion by 2004.
Presidency Conclusions of the Thessaloniki Summit

Guidelines on the Use of Pandemic H1N1 Vaccines

The European Medicines Agency has reviewed preliminary data from clinical trials on pandemic flu vaccinations. The clinical trials are ongoing and updates will be provided as data are received. The results will be sent to the European Commission.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) at the European Medicines Agency has reviewed early data from clinical trials for the three approved vaccines for the pandemic flu. The Committee’s conclusion was that the recommendations (...)

New advice from WHO on vaccination for H1N1

The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization, which advises WHO on policies and strategies for vaccines and immunization, devoted a session of its 27–29 October meeting to pandemic influenza vaccines. The experts reviewed the current epidemiological situation of the pandemic worldwide and considered issues and options from a public health perspective.
Items on the agenda included the status of vaccine availability, results from clinical trials on vaccine (...)

A(H1N1)v (Swine) Influenza - Frequently Asked Questions

The A(H1N1)v influenza pandemic is an issue of global concern and constitutes the largest threat to public health seen in recent years. Here, EPHA presents here a few Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
What is the Current Situation ?
The current figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as of August 25, 2009 :
In the EU and EFTA Countries : 43 245 cases including 93 deaths
Outside EU and EFTA countries : 211 702 cases including 2501 deaths
Bringing the (...)

European Commission Proposal for a Council Recommendation on Seasonal Influenza Vaccination

On 13 July 2009, the European Commission released a Proposal for a Council Recommendation on Seasonal Influenza Vaccination. Since the start of the ’Europe for Patients’ campaign in the second half of 2008, this item has been on the agenda, and in light of the recent Pandemic, it has become a much higher priority.
The release of the proposed Recommendation on 13 July 2009, has no doubt been brought forward as a result of the current pandemic of A/H1N1 Influenza. The proposed Recommendation (...)

**Update**Novel Influenza A/H1N1 (Swine Flu) Pandemic

According to figures released by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2005 and February 2009 a total of 12 cases of Swine Influenza were reported across 10 states in the US. However in recent weeks, thousands of cases have been confirmed and the world is bracing itself for an imminent pandemic. Margaret Chan (WHO, Director General) has raised the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to 6 classifying the current outbreak as the first pandemic for 41 (...)

How prepared are we ? Novel Influenza A/H1N1 continues to spread...

Avian Flu, SARS, H1N1, with each outbreak of influenza, the world jumps. Every outbreak of a novel influenza virus represents a serious threat to human health and every one of them threatens that terrifying word- pandemic. One such pandemic in 1918, Spanish Flu, wiped out 25 million people worldwide, killing more people than the First World War that ravaged the world for the four preceding years. Since then nations across the world have been seeking to strengthen and reinforce their (...)

Cases of measles in Europe on the rise

A studied published in the UK’s Lancet journal in January suggests that the number of cases of measles in Europe have sharply risen, with more than 6,000 people affected in the first nine months of 2008 alone. This new data puts hopes of eradicating the disease in Europe by 2010 in doubt.
The countries with the highest prevalence of the disease (Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Italy and Romania) are also the countries where the vaccination rates are below 90 percent, which is well below the (...)

Second Global Plan brings the fight against TB to a new level

The Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015, Actions for Life was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on 27 January 2006.
With 9 million cases and 2 million deaths every year worldwide, tuberculosis ranks among the leading infectious diseases with an incidence rate of 1% each year.
The Global Plan sets out a 10-year agenda for reducing TB incidence in line with Millennium Development Goals and for halving, by 2015, TB prevalence and deaths compared with 1990 levels. (...)

Newborn health receives major financial support

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced the allocation of $ 84.3 million to help prevent newborn illness and death in 18 developing countries.
Almost 99% of the death cases occur in the developing countries.
The death of millions of children could be prevented by improving the access to antibiotics, sterile blades and clean childbirth kits.
The grant will be used for two initiatives :
Save the children for newborn health projects in 18 developing countries ($60 million)
Path to (...)

Coordinating response to Influenza pandemic at EU level

*This article has been updated with details of the European Parliament activities.*
Given the current Avian Flu emergency in South Asia, the European Commission has taken two measures to address a potential Influenza pandemic at EU level : reviewing the Directive on Avian Influenza and designing a comprehensive integrated zoonoses strategy.
According to experts, the H5N1 strain that devastates South Asian poultries has the potential to spark off the next pandemic, to which humans have no (...)

EU Health Ministers plan responses to health threats

The Health Ministers of the 25 European Union member states met in Paris on the 13-14 April 2005 to discuss “Health in Europe”. The main decisions aimed at reinforcing a common response to health threats.
Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French health minister, concluded the meeting by calling his colleagues to strenghten European health policies, stating that “a 25-nation Europe will be stronger to build a Europe that discovers novel therapies, a Europe that shares best (...)

Cooperation and Immunisation needed to Control Infectious Diseases

Countries of the WHO European Region must scale up Immunisation programmes to help prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. This was the call made at the meeting of the Interagency Immunisation Coordinating Committee organised by WHO in Slovenia on October 21 2004.
Representatives of UNICEF, the World Bank, the Childrens Vaccine Program, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the United States Agency for (...)

Flu Vaccine Shortage Leads to Concern

Concerns are growing that there will be a shortage in the availabilty of Influenza (flu) vaccine in the United States, just as the ’flu’ season is due to start.
The shortage was created after it was discovered that doses of the Influenza vaccine ’Fluvirin’ were found to be contaminated at a manfacturing plant in Liverpool, England. Chiron, the vaccine’s manufacturer were subsequently barred on October 5 2004, by the UK Department of Health from providing vaccine for 3 months.
The (...)

Governments respond to call for a coordinated HIV vaccine effort

The G-8 group of industrialised nations have responded to a call by leading scientists from around the world for a coordinated approach to an HIV vaccine along the lines of the Human Genome project.
In June 2004, the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise was launched as a virtual consortium to enhance coordination, information sharing and global collaboration amongst the world’s HIV vaccine researchers in industrialized and developing countries in both private and public sectors.
The Enterprise (...)

Brief History of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

In early March 2003 the World Health Organization received reports of an outbreak of acute respiratory illness from Viet Nam and South East Asia.
This has been called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS. The outbreak has continued to grow with nearly 6000 cases now reported in 30 different countries. Of these about 90% have occurred in mainland China or Hong Kong.
While groups of cases have occurred in other parts of the world (eg Canada), so far less than 1 % of cases have been (...)

European Immunisation Week : ‘Prevent. Protect. Immunise.’

The World Health Organization, in cooperation with the European Commission and supported by the ECDC, held the Fourth European Immunisation Week between 20 and 26 April 2009. The week was aimed at raising awareness among policy makers and the public about the need for greater immunisation coverage across Europe.
The stated goals of the week where :
1. To raise public awareness and highlight the benefits of immunisation ;
2. To support national immunisation systems ; and
3. To provide a (...)

World Economic Forum debates HIV/AIDS epidemic

The 2005 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) took place on 26-30 January in Davos (Switzerland). One of the central themes of this year’s meeting was the fight against the AIDS epidemic.
Today, about 40 million people are living with AIDS. About half live in Africa, where there are over 8,000 new infections each day.
In his opening address, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair appealed for more aid for Africa and committed the UK to provide nearly one sixth of a World Health (...)

Malaria vaccine developments

An new vaccine in development has shown positive results in paediatric trials against the malaria that is found in the developing world (RTS,S/ASO2A).
The study, published in the "The Lancet", shows the results of a vaccine, developed by GlaxoSmithkline (GSK) Biologics and tested amongst children between one and four years old for a period of six months in Mozambique.
This vaccine was first tested in adults in Belgium, Kenya, The Gambia, and the US. It has since been tested in children in (...)