Focus on vaccination program: Austria wants to close health gaps!

Focus on vaccination program: Austria wants to close health gaps!

The Austrian Vaccination Day 2025 will take place on January 18, 2025 in Vienna and will focus on vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, whooping cough and influenza. Due to lower vaccination rates, there are worrying increases in cases in Austria, which underlines the urgent need for education and vaccinations. On Monday, December 9, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., a press conference will take place at the Medical University of Vienna to shed light on this important topic. Among the speakers are Ursula Wiedermann-Schmidt from MedUni Vienna as well as Rudolf Schmitzberger and Gerhard Kobinger from the Austrian Chambers of Physicians and Pharmacists, who will discuss the current challenges and strategies for improving the vaccination rate OTS Austria reported.

The Austrian Vaccination Day 2024, which will take place on January 20, 2024, will look more closely at the lessons learned from the corona pandemic and address innovative vaccination options and digital communication strategies for education. Under the title "Vaccination protects! From new vaccines to artificial intelligence", experts discuss current questions and challenges in vaccination medicine. The pandemic has provided new insights into immune responses to vaccines and demonstrated the economic benefits of vaccinations. The need to close vaccination gaps and reach young people digitally is at the forefront MedUni Vienna reported.

Vaccinations to prevent disease

New vaccines, including a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pneumococcus, will also be presented on vaccination day. These new vaccines are particularly important for vulnerable groups such as infants, the elderly and immunocompromised people. In addition, reference is made to the increase in whooping cough cases, which urgently require public attention. In view of climate change, the increase in tropical diseases could also be promoted in Europe.

The organizational implementation of vaccination offers should be improved to ensure that vaccinations remain an integral part of preventative medicine. A central concern will be to ensure vaccination records are checked at every doctor's visit and to provide information about the importance of booster vaccinations, especially for older patients. Vaccinations are still one of the most important measures in the healthcare system, which is why the political framework for promoting vaccination campaigns needs to be significantly revised.