Improving access to vaccination for newly arrived migrants in European countries

Background: Ensuring access to immunization for migrants, particularly newly arrived migrants (NAMs), is of utmost importance in the European Union and the Economic European Area (EU/EEA). Migrants may not be immunized or may be under immunized in their countries of origin and so may be vulnerable to acquire vaccine-preventable diseases. Immunization is a global health intervention that plays a crucial role in saving countless lives and preventing the transmission of infectious diseases. The AcToVax4NAM project aims to improve access to vaccinations for NAMs in European countries. The consortium behind AcToVx4NAM plans to enhance solutions in removing barriers to access vaccination and to improve vaccination literacy within the health system to ensure equal and guaranteed vaccination access for NAMs. Methods: The project utilizes scientific methods, including participatory approach involving collaboration between stakeholders, healthcare providers, and policymakers within European countries. It includes an updating of the current reception and vaccination systems for NAMs, identification of barriers to vaccination access, and development of strategies to address these barriers. Furthermore, it develops tools to foster stronger networking capacity among organizations and stakeholders to address vaccination literacy and promote migrant-sensitive approaches within healthcare systems. Lastly, the study conducted pilot tests and evaluations of these proposed solutions to enhance vaccination uptake among NAMs. Results: Preliminary findings provide an updated comprehension of reception and vaccination systems for NAMs in Italy, Spain, Greek, Romania, Germany, Poland, Cyprus and Malta. Moreover, these findings highlight substantial barriers to vaccination access for NAMs. These barriers include professionals' lack of knowledge about the entitlement to health and vaccination for migrants, as well as the lack of specific mention of NAMs as immunization beneficiaries in documents and plans at various levels. The project has successfully developed a General Conceptual Framework to understand how to improve vaccination uptake for NAMs in EU countries, provided country-specific insights into barriers and solutions and strengthened vaccination literacy and migrant-sensitive capacities among healthcare professionals. These outcomes involved in a pilot testing of approaches to enhance vaccination uptake of NAMs within countries in this study. Discussion: Ensuring that migrants have equal access to immunization services reduces the risk of outbreaks and the spread of diseases within communities. Furthermore, it promotes the well-being and integration of migrants, leading to healthier and more inclusive societies. A key objective of this study is to provide tangible and effective practices and recommendations to address the issues.