Vaccination – make the better choice
by Xavier Prats Monné, Director-General of DG Health and Food Safety, European Commission
Advancements in science are often difficult to achieve, but once obtained they are easily taken for granted. Who remembers today that smallpox killed between 300 million and 500 million people - yes, up to half a billion human beings - in the 20th century alone? In 1967, for example, the year the WHO announced a global smallpox eradication programme, smallpox struck 10 to 15 million people a year, killed two million, disfigured millions and left some 100,000 people blind. Unfortunately some people seem to have forgotten all of this. Today it is unheard of, in the western world, for children to die of diseases su
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Also in this focus
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PROMOVAX - Promote Vaccinations among Migrant Populations in Europe
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8 NGOs for migrants/refugees' health needs in 11 countries
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EUR-HUMAN - EUropean Refugees - HUman Movement and Advisory Network
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HProImmune - Promotion of Immunization for Health Professionals in Europe
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EU-HEP-SCREEN - Screening for Hepatitis B and C among migrants in the European Union
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FASTVAC: A generic framework for FAST production and evaluation of emergency VACcines
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What do you find most useful and interesting about this newsletter? What could be improved? Please take a few minutes to take our on-line survey so that we can make sure the newsletter best serves your needs.
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The EU-funded 'VulnerABLE' pilot project will assess the health needs and challenges of vulnerable and isolated populations who may be more at risk of poor health and/or face barriers in accessing healthcare services and identify best practices to support them.
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On 15 June 2016, the Council's Permanent Representatives Committee endorsed the agreement reached with the Parliament on the new medical devices regulations. The agreement must go through legal and linguistic revision before being sent again to the Council and the Parliament for approval.
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Directive 2004/23/EC establishes the mandatory tests performed on donors of tissues and cells each time they donate, allowing Member States to adopt more stringent measures on a national basis. Member States and the Commission's DG Sante have mapped out these testing measures and made the results publicly available.
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A prescription delivered by a doctor in your country is valid in all EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. However, your medicine may not be available or may go under a different name – you might want to ask your doctor for a 'cross-border prescription'.
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The card gives you access to medically necessary, state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in any of the 28 EU countries, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, under the same conditions and cost (free in some countries) as people insured in that country. Cards are issued by your national health insurance provider.
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You're about to go on holiday, but do you know your rights and obligations when travelling in the EU?
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The European Commission is looking for experts in sensory analysis, chemical analysis and statistics. Apply to the call for expression of interest by 22 September 2016!
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EFSA has taken the first step in releasing a web-based version of its Compendium on Botanicals. The searchable database still under development, will be expanded to include non-European botanical species. The complete version of the Compendium will be released early 2017.
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New publications
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This edition includes an update on the Mental Health Policy consortium, mental health news in brief and a mental health spotlight, activities and events. The Commission-funded EU-Compass collects, exchanges and analyses information on policy and stakeholder activities in mental health.
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Europe: a continent with thousands of years of history, a rich cultural heritage and some of the world’s most breathtaking scenery. So much for the traveller to discover and explore and all made much easier thanks to the European Union (EU).
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Forthcoming events
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Under the theme 'Caring for Older People: How Can We Do the Right Things Right?', the EU-supported event aims to discuss how we know when and to what extent nursing care impacts the older patient's desired health outcomes.
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Reporting from across Europe
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The National Transplants Organisation would like to reach an annual donation level of 5000 by 2020 in order for Spain to meet its own demand for corneal transplants nationwide. Some 3,870 corneal transplants were performed in 2015, and 1,300 patients are on the waiting list.
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Under the slogan "Alcohol can change your life ... for the worse!", this Ministry of Health campaigns runs throughout July 2016. One key message is that there is no 'safe limit' of alcohol for adolescents – it can have serious consequences on brain development if consumed by young teens.
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In the next issue
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Health Systems
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