Spain has a great culture of prevention related to vaccination. And this has been one of the reasons why high vaccination rates against the coronavirus have been achieved. However, there is life – and vaccines – beyond COVID-19.
At the ‘V Public Health Forum: Vaccines, science and longevity’, organized by Wecare-U with the support of Fundamed and GSK, he highlighted the value of prevention , not only in a specific manner or in exceptional cases, such as a health crisis , but a prevention in all stages of life.
The lifelong vaccination schedule, approved in 2018 and implemented in 2019, was a “paradigm shift,” said Manuel Méndez Díaz, health administration physician in health and vaccination programs of the Department of Public Health of the Government of Aragon. And it is that you cannot talk about children’s vaccines without talking about adults and vice versa, since vaccination in childhood has a great – positive – impact on maturity.
Ana Hernando, Director of Institutional Relations of the Vaccine Area of GSK Spain pointed to concepts such as immunosenescence or immunosuppression. “By the end of this decade, the number of people over 60 will increase by a third. Aging and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance will require the updating of adult vaccination programs and the development of safe and effective vaccines in this group ”, he indicated.
Calendar benefits throughout life
The approval of the vaccination calendar for life coincided with the arrival of recommendations by the Council of Ministers of the EU. “They mentioned the need for vaccination programs to have a lifelong approach, as it contributes to a healthy life and healthy aging,” explained Aurora Limia, Area Chief of the General Subdirectorate for Promotion, Prevention and Quality of the General Directorate of Public Health of the Ministry of Health.
This calendar has great advantages, such as the fact that the recommendations agreed upon in the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (SNS) are implemented in all communities, which increases trust among the population. But there are also threats, such as supply. To tackle this problem, “we must improve vaccine procurement procedures and discuss contingency mechanisms,” says Limia.
The next reviews planned by the Ministry of Health are influenza vaccination in children, rotavirus vaccination in children and HPV in men. Other topics to be evaluated will be meningococcal B, on the occasion of a recent effectiveness study, and the results of the seroprevalence study in Spain, with which the Vaccine Conference will have to “evaluate and rethink some of the calendar programs.” In addition, communities are already in the process of implementing vaccination against shingles. “This is the closest, but probably also the vaccination in adults and those in risk conditions will have to be reviewed,” Limia reported.
As highlighted by Pilar Aparicio, general director of Public Health, this calendar continues to be completed every year, where “childhood vaccinations are very important, but also throughout the entire life process.” In fact, during pregnancy or aging, they play a “key role,” he insisted.
Challenges of vaccination in adults
Reaching high coverage beyond childhood and risk groups is a challenge. Jaime Pérez, a specialist in Preventive Medicine of the General Directorate of Public Health of the Ministry of Health of Murcia, put on the table the challenges of vaccination in adults. Among others, he identified the awareness that vaccines are something for children, the fact that assistance takes precedence over prevention or that adults are more afraid of adverse effects.
However, “if the adult is aware that the disease is important and that the vaccine is effective and safe, they are vaccinated,” he said. Therefore, “recruitment strategies” must be made. In short, Pérez advocates the need to set a vaccination schedule for adults, despite how complicated its implementation may be.
Lessons to take advantage of
For Juan Camacho, General Director of Public Health of the Castilla-La Mancha Ministry of Health, the main lesson of the pandemic is that “we can do things differently.” An example of this is that “we have become more flexible as a system”, enabling new infrastructures to vaccinate.
However, he fears that forgetting will be one of the big problems that we will encounter in the coming years, because “people want to forget about the pandemic.” The trick, he pointed out, is organization: “more professionals and more budget allocation.”
At this point, Elena Andradas, General Director of Public Health of the Health Council of the Community of Madrid, agreed, who has set three objectives for 2022: reorganization of the general direction of Public Health to achieve a more integrated and efficient team, endowment of optimal resources and strengthen information systems.
Likewise, Santiago de Quiroga, vice president of Fundamed, stressed that we must bet more on Public Health: “If we have learned something, it is that we must not lose this asset; Let’s make Public Health take a step forward and have the prominence it deserves to contribute to society, the economy and health ”.
