THE AcToVax4NAM PROJECT
The Access to Vaccination for Newly Arrived Migrants (AcToVax4NAM) was a 3.5-year European project (Starting Date: 1/5/21 – End Date: 30/11/24) with the mission to increase vaccination uptake among Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM). The beneficiaries were 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 was to improve vaccination literacy (VL), access, and thereby vaccination uptake for NAM, making access conditions more equitable and guaranteed. The project targeted Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) that were part of National Immunization Plans and adopted a life-course approach. Covid-19 vaccination was considered in all the project’s activities, within the framework of promoting equal access to relevant vaccination services for NAM.
More specifically, the project:
- Identified solutions for overcoming system barriers, also addressing the impact of political and cultural environments in each of the consortium countries.
- Addressed 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.
- Developed country-specific action-oriented flow charts to overcome system barriers.
- Piloted interventions and various tools.
- Strengthened networking capacity among organizations and institutional stakeholders to address VL and cultural sensitivity within the healthcare system concerning the immunization of NAM.
OUR METHODOLOGY
AcToVax4ΝΑΜ identified solutions to overcome systemic barriers, considering the impact of political and cultural environments in each consortium country. It addressed institutional and system-based vaccination literacy (VL) for health and social care professionals working with newly arrived migrants (NAM), including nonmedical personnel such as health mediators. The project:
- Developed a general conceptual framework and country-specific action-oriented flowcharts to overcome system barriers.
- Piloted interventions and various tools to increase vaccination uptake.
- Strengthened networking capacity and enhanced healthcare system capability to create a health-literate and culturally competent system that promotes active immunization of NAM.
AcToVax4ΝΑΜ adopted a scientific-based approach, actively involving target groups to ensure widespread acceptance of its proposed solutions.
EXPECTED RESULTS, OUTCOMES & BENEFITS
Our Beneficiaries
The AcToVax4NAM project aimed to impact the lives of Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM) in EU/EEA countries. Given the absence of a widely accepted definition of NAM in terms of time since entry into EU countries, the project developed an operational definition.
NAM was defined as:
A person (with a different citizenship from the hosting country, with either EU/EEA or third-country citizenship) who entered the country within the last 12 months,
- EITHER within the procedures prescribed by governmental migration policies, excluding tourists and those with short-term visas/permits (<3 months),
- OR outside the procedures recognized by legislation (including overstaying after visa expiration).
This definition of NAM considered the fact that different legal statuses affected access to National Health Systems and Immunization Services. It acknowledged that both third-country migrants and those from EU countries faced barriers to healthcare access. The operational definition was based on public health considerations, regardless of legal status or country of origin.
Our Target Groups
The interventions were directed at all “professionals FOR health” who had a significant impact on NAM vaccination. Therefore, our target groups included all health and social care professionals 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”.
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