PROMOVAX
Due to increased influx of migrants to and within Europe over the past years, health care systems across many member states have been confronted with new problems of developing accessible, appropriate and good quality services for these groups. Most of the non-immunized population in Europe is often found within these vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups, which lack access to vaccines and balanced information about the importance of vaccination. As the immunization of migrants and refugees is a high priority issue for the EU health program, the EU funded program PROMOVAX aimed to bring together different institutions and organizations in the disciplines of migrant health, migrant workers health, public health as well as immunizations, thus forming a network of communication and collaboration for the promotion of vaccination uptake for this group.
The main objective of PROMOVAX was to complement current EU policies on reaching these hard-to-reach populations by expanding the existing knowledge of barriers among migrants concerning immunizations, developing recommendations for policy-makers regarding the immunization of migrants and creating and disseminating educational material for both health professionals and migrants about this matter.
Furthermore, it aimed to enhance migrants’ health in general through the establishment of healthcare provider and migrant communication channels, as well as the promotion of migrants’ trust in the health system of EU member states.
Within the scope of PROMOVAX, a thorough investigation was conducted on the origin, demographics and available information regarding immunization coverage, culture and attitudes towards vaccination among these migrant groups. Furthermore, an extensive list of migrant immunization practices across European countries was compiled and, subsequently, best practices as well as missed opportunities and gaps were identified and brought to the fore.
Based on the knowledge collected through this research, tailor-made toolkits including information on immunization schedules and practices in migrant hosting countries and other resources were developed for use by health professionals in EU countries caring and working with migrants. Furthermore, toolkits in the form of immunization promotion materials were also developed to be used by migrants, in the format of a handbook. It included lay information on immunization and was created in a linguistically and culturally appropriate manner, with the contribution of health communicators, cultural mediators and migrant leaders.