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RIVER-EU |Issue 7| January 2025

22 Ιανουαρίου 2025
RIVER-EU

Reducing Inequalities in Vaccine uptake in the European Region – Engaging Underserved communities (RIVER-EU) is a 5-year (2021-2026) project funded by the Horizon 2020 Research Programme. Our main goal is to collect evidence on health system determinants of high and low vaccine uptake in eight specific contexts. This evidence will be used to identify and/or develop interventions to reduce barriers to vaccine uptake in underserved communities and increase trust in the health system.Stay informed by
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Welcome to the biannual RIVER-EU project newsletter. It brings you the most important project achievements and other related and relevant information on equitable access to vaccination.

 
 

“From Insight to Impact”: RIVER-EU's joint pre-conference

 
 

On November 12, 2024, RIVER-EU, RISE-Vac, and AcToVax4NAM hosted a joint pre-conference session at the 17th European Public Health Conference in Lisbon. Titled “From Insight to Impact: Advancing Equitable Vaccination Across Europe”, the event brought together public health professionals, policymakers, and researchers to explore strategies for overcoming barriers to vaccine uptake in underserved communities.


The session highlighted how tailored interventions can address systemic barriers, with country-specific examples shared by all three projects. Discussions focused on embedding equity in health systems, co-creating solutions with communities, and leveraging evidence-based approaches to inform public health strategies.
Read the article
 
 

RIVER-EU’s General Assembly Meeting: Tracking progress and planning next steps

 

On November 11, 2024, the RIVER-EU consortium convened in Lisbon for its annual General Assembly, held just before the European Public Health Conference. The meeting celebrated project milestones while addressing challenges and strategies for the future.

Country teams shared progress updates, including preliminary results on vaccination intentions and uptake, and showcased creative educational materials like multilingual leaflets and interactive tools. The meeting also explored synergies across Work Package 5 (developing a guideline and policy recommendations) and Work Package 6 (developing the SEKI Platform) and outlined plans for the exploitation of project outcomes.

Read the article
 
 

Voices from the field

 

Poland: Students making a difference with RIVER-EU

In Poland, the RIVER-EU project addresses low vaccination rates among Ukrainian economic migrants and refugees. Final-year medical students Oskar Pasek, Ewa Sobieraj, and Jakub Goławski from the University of Zielona Gora have played an active role in this effort. They supported qualitative studies to understand barriers and enablers to MMR and HPV vaccination for these communities. Discover how students are shaping health equity in Poland.

Read the article
 
 

Greece: The Greek Forum of Migrants discusses local challenges and solutions

 

RIVER-EU interviewed Nini Lomsadze, Project Manager at the Greek Forum of Migrants, representing 42 migrant and refugee communities. Nini discussed the barriers migrants face in Greece in terms of accessing health services, including legal status, language barriers, and cultural differences. She also highlighted the critical role of projects like RIVER-EU in amplifying migrant voices and fostering understanding among local populations.

Read the article
 
 

Slovakia: Perspectives from a paediatrician and two local health promoters on HPV vaccination

 
 

RIVER-EU has released a series of videos featuring Dr Ingrid Urbančíková, a paediatrician, and two health promoters, sharing their perspectives on HPV vaccination. Dr Urbančíková, speaking in Slovak, provides insights into how the vaccine works, its safety and efficacy, the importance of vaccinating boys, and its role in preventing cervical cancer.

The health promoters, speaking in Slovak and Romani, share their personal experiences vaccinating their children against HPV. They discuss how they addressed concerns within their families, including communicating with their children and partners.

Watch the videos
 
 
 

Our research sheds light on:

 
 
 

What are we working on now?

In 2025, RIVER-EU will continue implementing tailored vaccination intervention in GreecePoland, the Netherlands, and Slovakia to address system barriers to vaccine uptake. In parallel, country partners are evaluating their work using pre- and post- questionnaires. A detailed description of each intervention is available on our website. Additionally, we are developing an exploitation plan to ensure the sustainability of the project beyond its duration. We are also working on two of our most important exploitable results: the SEKI platform and the policy guidelines. These outputs will integrate insights and experiences from implementing partners.

 
 

More news from the project

  • On June 20, 2024, country leaders gathered in Athens for the midterm meeting of Work Package 4 (Implementation and evaluation of tailored interventions). Implementers from Greece, Poland, Slovakia, and the Netherlands shared experiences and adaptation strategies to increase MMR and HPV vaccine uptake among underserved communities.
  • On 14 November 2024, RIVER-EU hosted a workshop at the 17th European Public Health Conference in Lisbon, titled “Transferability and adaptation of vaccination interventions: Learning from underserved communities”. Country partners presented their work with underserved communities on the transferability and adaptation of vaccination interventions.
  • On 27 November 2024, Alison Maassen, Programme Manager at EuroHealthNet, presented RIVER-EU’s work at the final PROTECT-EUROPE Masterclass, titled “No one left behind: Reaching marginalised communities with HPV protection”. Watch the full recording here.
  • On December 10, 2024, Dr. Maria Ganczak, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Zielona Góra, presented RIVER-EU’s work at Europe’s Tomorrow: Vaccination and Prevention Summit in Warsaw, focusing on barriers to HPV immunisation among young Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
 
 

Additional updates

 

Council adopts Recommendation to combat vaccine-preventable cancers

The Council of the European Union has adopted a recommendation to reduce vaccine-preventable cancers by boosting the uptake of vaccinations against HPV and Hepatitis B. Originally proposed by the European Commission in January 2024, this recommendation was adopted in June as part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The initiative sets ambitious goals, including fully vaccinating 90% of girls against HPV by 2030, significantly increasing HPV vaccination rates among boys, and achieving 95% HBV vaccination coverage for children and newborns by 2030. It also encourages Member States to improve vaccine accessibility, combat misinformation, and integrate immunisation against vaccine-preventable cancers into national cancer plans.

 
 

WHO releases practical guide to address immunisation inequities

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a new guide to help immunisation programmes identify, address, and track inequities. This document provides practical tools for governments, healthcare providers, and immunisation programme workers to embed equity into immunisaton strategies. The guide offers a clear framework to analyse who is being left behind, understand the underlying causes of inequities, design targeted interventions to address these gaps, and evaluate the impact of these efforts.

 

Action Plans to improve vaccination access for newly arrived migrants highlighted at AcToVax4NAM EU Conference

On October 18, 2024, the Prolepsis Institute hosted a hybrid conference in Athens as part of the AcToVax4NAM (Access to Vaccination for Newly Arrived Migrants) project. Titled "Building Bridges to Better Health: The Impact of AcToVax4NAM in Promoting Vaccination Equity for Newly Arrived Migrants”, the event brought together representatives from the WHO, the European Commission, Ministries of Health, and health professionals from across the EU and showcased action plans and tools to address barriers to vaccination for NAMs. The presentations can be found here.

 

WHO reports increase in measles cases due to stagnant immunisation rates

On November 14, 2024, the WHO released its 2023 measles estimates, revealing a 20% increase in global measles cases compared to 2022. Despite measles vaccination saving an estimated 60 million lives since 2000, inadequate immunisation coverage is driving a resurgence in cases and outbreaks. The report highlighted that first-dose measles vaccine coverage remained stagnant at 83%, far below the 95% target needed to eliminate measles. Low-income countries and conflict-affected regions are particularly vulnerable.

 

New outputs from the RISE-Vac project

The RISE-Vac project (increasing vaccine uptake in prisons across Europe) has unveiled several key outputs aimed at improving vaccination in prisons. These include a policy brief that employs project learnings to provide actionable recommendations for strengthening vaccination programmes in prisons. Additionally, the project has developed e-learning courses available in 8 languages for prison staff to enhance their knowledge and skills in supporting vaccination efforts.

 

PERCH advances efforts to standardise HPV communication strategies across Europe

The European Joint Action “PartnERship to Contrast HPV” (PERCH), is making significant steps in supporting European countries to improve HPV vaccination coverage. The HPV Guild—a network of 80 experts from 18 countries—is finalising the PERCH Guide to National HPV Communication Strategies. This guide will equip Member States with tools to design, implement, and evaluate effective HPV communication campaigns. Several countries plan to use the guide to develop their national HPV communication strategies before the project's conclusion. Through this collaborative effort, PERCH aims to standardise HPV communication approaches and foster long-term partnerships across Europe, ultimately increasing vaccination coverage and reducing HPV-related cancers.

 

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