Statement by Johan Giesecke, Chief Scientist, European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC)

Your  Royal Highness, Madame Vice Prime Minister, Madame Regional Director, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to represent the director of ECDC, Dr Marc Sprenger, at this opening of the European Immunization week. This is an important initiative by WHO, and it deserves all support.

I will start with a few words about vaccination in general, and then finish with some comments on the challenge for the EU.

Immunisation is without any comparison the most successful medical activity to improve public health. Nothing that the medical profession does comes even close – possibly excepting obstetrics: that young women or their babies (or both) no longer die at childbirth.

And like you pointed out, your Royal Highness, vaccines not only save lives; they also prevent life-long disabilities, such as the paralysis after polio, the congenital malformation after maternal rubella, or even the disfiguring pox scars after smallpox.

Vaccines are unique in two ways. One: that my being vaccinated not only protects myself, but also the people around me – who may not be vaccinated. If I start a proper diet and embark on an exercise programme, this may be beneficial for my heart, but it will not lessen my neighbour’s risk of falling ill with heart disease.

And immunisation is also unique as a medical intervention: There is no other medical activity on this scale that is delivered to completely healthy people. This gives us a special responsibility to ascertain that side effects – which are a companion of any medical procedure – are as close to zero as is technically and scientifically possible.

What does this mean for the Europe and for the ECDC?

First, let me state that all EU Member States have great childhood immunisation programmes. They may differ from country to country – and even within countries – but any child who is vaccinated according to the local programme is well protected against a number of dangerous diseases.

The problem is not the different programmes per se, but the fact that not all children are reached.

And, of course, as pointed out by the Commission, the different programmes do create problems for families moving between EU countries with small children. I can still remember moving to the US for a one-year sabbatical 30 years ago with one 18-month old and one newborn, and the adjustments it took going there and coming back.

Secondly, the ECDC will do its utmost to support Member States in reaching the WHO elimination goal for measles and rubella, now pushed back to 2015.

Thirdly, strong political commitment is needed to improve MMR coverage and to promote additional immunisation activities.

And on the technical side, ECDC is helping the Member States to

1. asses vaccine coverage, and

2. we are also setting up a system to rapidly measure the effectiveness of new vaccines (so far only for influenza), and – not least important –

3. we are partners in developing a system to rapidly evaluate signals about potential side effects.

The ECDC – often in collaboration with WHO – also regularly produces evidence-based evaluations of the public health benefits of new vaccines for the Member States to use when they appear on the market.

And, like Mr Ryan from the Commission mentioned, we are working with the Commission and WHO to look into the possibility to develop better vaccine records.

Fourthly, the biggest challenge in the EU is not to prove the benefits of vaccines, but to strengthen the trust, both with the public and with the medical professions, that vaccines are good for you.  In order to achieve this, even more transparent and science-based communication is needed, and this is an area where ECDC and WHO must work closely together.

We also need to learn more about which vaccine messages work, and which don’t.

According to medical historians, measles appeared in Europe around AD 500. It is an anachronism that 1600 years later, and half a century after the invention of an efficacious vaccine, this disease should still circulate among our children. We know how to stop it; now all that remains is to do it.

Thank you.