THE AcToVax4NAM PROJECT
Access to Vaccination for Newly Arrived Migrants (AcToVax4NAM) is a 3-year (Starting Date: 1/5/21 – End date: 30/4/24) European project with a mission to increase the vaccination uptake in Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM). The beneficiaries are Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM) in first line, transit and destination EU/EEA countries, regardless of their legal status.
The general objective of the AcToVax4NAM project is the improvement of vaccination literacy (VL) and access and thereby vaccination uptake for Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM) making access conditions more equitable and guaranteed. The project will target Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) that are part of the National Immunization Plans and will adopt a life course approach. Covid-19 vaccination will be considered in all the project’s activities, within the logic of promotion of equal access to relevant vaccination services for NAM.
More specifically the project will:
- Identify solutions for overcoming system barriers, also by addressing the impact of political and cultural environments in each of the consortium countries.
- Address vaccine literacy (VL) at the institutional or system level to support health and social workers working with NAMs, including nonmedical staff such as health mediators.
- Develop country-specific action-oriented flow charts to overcome system barriers.
- Pilot interventions and different tools.
- Strengthen networking capacity among organization and institution stakeholders to address VL and cultural sensitivity of the health care system with respect to the immunization of NAM.
OUR METHODOLOGY
AcToVax4ΝΑΜ will identify solutions for overcoming system barriers addressing also the impact of political and cultural environments in each of the consortium countries. It will address institutional, or system based VL for health and social care professionals who work with NAM including nonmedical personnel such as health mediators. The project will:
- develop a general conceptual framework and country specific action – oriented flow charts to overcome system barriers;
- pilot interventions and different tools to increase vaccination uptake;
- reinforce networking capacity and build health care system capacity for a health literate and culturally competent system that promotes active immunization of NAM.
AcToVax4ΝΑΜ adopts a scientific-based approach by involving the target groups in the project to achieve widespread acceptance of the proposed solutions.
EXPECTED RESULTS, OUTCOMES & BENEFITS
Our Beneficiaries
We want to impact the life of Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM) in EU/EEA countries and given that there is no widely accepted definition of NAM in terms of time from entry to EU countries, the AcToVax4NAM Project has developed an operational definition.
NAM is defined as:
“A person (with a different citizenship from the hosting country, with either EU/EEA or third country citizenship), who entered the country in the last 12 months
-EITHER within the procedures prescribed by the governmental migration policies, excluding tourists and short visa/permit < 3 months,
OR outside the procedures recognized by the legislation (or overstay after visa expired)”.
This definition of ‘NAM’ takes into account the fact that their different legal status produces different possibilities of access to National Health Systems and therefore to Immunization Services, and that both migrants from third countries and those from EU countries encounter obstacles to accessibility. The operational definition is therefore based on Public Health considerations, regardless of legal status or country of origin.
Our Target Groups
The interventions will be directed to all “professional FOR health”, who have a significant impact on NAM vaccination. Therefore, our target groups are all health and social care professional who are involved in the vaccination of NAM such as:
Staff of public health institutions
at national and local level
Staff of Migrant Reception
& Vaccination Centers
Cultural mediators
Social workers
Personnel working for NGOs in
areas related to migrants’ health
Health Professionals
(doctors/nurses/others)
Why is increased access to vaccination for Newly Arrived Migrants important?
It is paramount to ensure equitable worldwide vaccine coverage in both native and migrant populations, to reduce and prevent the presence of under-immunised groups. Vaccines is the only scientifically proven method to protect everyone against severe or life-threatening health consequences of diseases and to break the chain of transmission. Therefore, NAMs are urgently needed to be explicitly and proactively included in the national vaccination plans. The recognition of the interdependence between migrant health and public health, offers a crucial opportunity to address wider and protracted disparities.
The public health system has an important role in improving both the health and its social determinants for NAM within the EU/EEA. In this framework, it is essential the public health system continues to train health professionals to improve their cultural sensitivity, and adapt their approaches and communication, while strengthening collaboration between all stakeholders involved in migrant’s health.
Lifelong universal access to vaccinations is recommended for ALL – regardless of migratory status of the individual – is aligned with the local policies and resources, as well as in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target 3.8 “Achieve Universal Health Coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all”.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OTHER HaDEA PROJECTS
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