New e-atlas tracks vaccine coverage and policies across Europe

European governments should adopt pneumococcal vaccination programmes for people of all ages to boost their protection against pneumonia, urge experts.

Each year on average across Europe, there are around 20,000 cases and 1,000 deaths from invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) – which can cause pneumonia. With the energy crisis making it harder for people to keep warm this winter, these numbers are more likely to rise as people become more exposed to deadly respiratory infections.

The Coalition for Life Course Immunisation (CLCI) and the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) have developed a new interactive Pneumococcal Vaccination Atlas, which shows that countries across Europe are still falling behind in terms of coverage, recommendations, and programme funding.

Bringing together data from government organisations, research institutions, and academic papers, the Atlas shows that across 42 European countries:

• One in three don’t offer pneumococcal vaccination for older adults
• One in four don’t offer the vaccination for those who are “at-risk” and living with an underlying medical condition
• Three countries don’t offer pneumococcal vaccination to children (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, and Montenegro)

And this affects outcomes: while almost all children across the region (88.3%) have received a pneumococcal vaccination, only 1 in 6 (18.0%) of people who are at particular risk of IPD and 1 in 4 (24.2%) of older people are vaccinated against the disease.

Key barriers to vaccination for these groups are:

• A lack of data – only 26% of countries have some form of data on at-risk groups and older adults, making it hard for public health authorities to target them.
• Accessibility issues – only 1 in 3 countries reimburse or cover the cost of vaccination for all age groups, placing the cost on individuals.

The European Pneumococcal Vaccination progress report urges European policymakers to introduce pneumococcal vaccination programmes that cover the life course, to fully fund these and collect adequate data on uptake.

Patrick Swain, Senior Research and Policy Officer at ILC and report author, said:

“Pneumonia is no joke. Invasive pneumococcal disease can be fatal, with over 20,000 cases and 1,000 deaths across Europe each year. Yet these can be avoided, and we have the solution at our fingertips.”

“But with one in three European countries not offering pneumococcal vaccination to older adults, there are major gaps when it comes to ensuring the best form of protection.

“The European Pneumococcal Vaccination progress report calls on national governments to implement life course programmes, monitor coverage, and ensure equitable access to vaccination to ensure everyone is safer and healthier for longer.”

Daphné Holt, Chair of CLCI, said:

“While pneumococcal vaccination in children is strong across Europe, gaps remain in those living with chronic medical conditions and older adults.

“We must take a life course approach to ensure that all people at different ages and stages receive these crucial immunisations to protect them against pneumonia and other pneumococcal-related diseases.”

Notes

For press queries, please contact press@ilcuk.org.uk or +44 (0) 208 638 0832.

1. The Pneumococcal Vaccination Atlas initiative has been developed with the support of MSD.
2. According to findings in the report, between 2010 and 2020, among children aged 0-4 years and adults aged 65 and above, there was an average of 20,353 IPD cases and 1,041 deaths from IPD across the EU/EEA per year. Data has been taken from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Surveillance Atlas of Infectious Diseases.
3. A list of the 42 countries surveyed:

About the Coalition for Life Course Immunisation (CLCI)

CLCI is a diverse network of expert individuals and associations representing public health, patients, academics and health professionals from across Europe. 

We are committed to preventing infectious disease over the life course by highlighting the benefits of wide-scale immunisation to our peers and policymakers.