EU and WHO collaborate to protect vulnerable populations from vaccine-preventable diseases by ensuring immunization equity

The European Union (EU) and WHO/Europe have joined forces in a groundbreaking €3 million project aimed at achieving and sustaining high and equitable immunization coverage in the EU and non-EU countries associated with the EU4Health programme. The project focuses on improving coverage among vulnerable population groups, with special emphasis on Roma communities, that are often disproportionately affected by vaccine-preventable diseases.

This project will, in particular, support the ministries of health in countries with a large Roma population to develop, strengthen and scale up tailored immunization service delivery so that everyone everywhere has equitable access to the health protection that vaccines offer, thereby strengthening regional health security.

To this end, the project will facilitate:

• collection of high-quality subnational vaccination data;

• monitoring and analysis of the reasons behind suboptimal immunization coverage with vaccines in the national immunization schedule; and

Lessons learned from developing and implementing tailored interventions in the above-mentioned countries will be shared and contribute to increasing immunization equity across the WHO European Region.

In addition, in line with the monitoring and evaluation framework of the European Immunization Agenda 2030 (EIA2030), this project will allow the development of an immunization data dashboard to enable all countries in the Region, including the EU and non-EU countries associated to the EU4Health programme, to visualize, analyse and track immunization programme performance more effectively. 

This dashboard will also help countries across the Region to identify any gaps in immunization data quality, use the available data to systematically identify the vaccination drivers and barriers in the targeted communities, and make evidence-based decisions on how to overcome the identified barriers. Together, these activities will help reduce immunization inequities and contribute to achieving the goals and targets of EIA2030.

Partnering with the EU

The project is funded under the EU4Health programme in alignment with its objective to strengthen health systems by reinforcing health data, digital tools and services in the EU and non-EU countries associated with the EU4Health programme.