The European Immunisation Week, which took place from 24th to 30th April, was the perfect opportunity for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to release its report on immunisation information systems in the EU and EEA. The report provides information on the status of immunisation information systems (IIS) in the EU/EEA countries and describes the functionalities of these systems. Its promotion fitted with the objective of the European Immunisation Week to increase awareness of the importance of immunisation. The publication is particularly important for those countries that have not yet set up systems, that are in the early stages of implementation or are updating their systems. The report summarises the results of 2 surveys that ECDC conducted on IIS in the EU/EEA countries. The research focuses on the one hand on countries with an established IIS and on the other hand targeted countries in an earlier stage of IIS implementation.
14 surveyed countries reported that they have a national system in place that digitally records information about vaccination, while in 7 others innovative systems are currently being piloted. Many of the IIS currently in operation or being set up include the possibility to record wholeof-life vaccination data, with a small number being able to print the personal immunisation history of an individual. Automated reminders are also used by 5 IIS. These systems are capable of producing lists that identify under vaccinated populations, determine which vaccines are due or overdue, and generate reminders for providers and vaccine recipients. The importance of digital immunisation records is also recognised by the 2014 EU Council Conclusions on vaccination as an effective tool in public health and further endorsed by the World Health Organisation’s European Vaccines Action Plan.
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