AcToVax4ΝΑΜ aims to improve vaccination literacy 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.

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, for system-based vaccination literacy for health and social care professionals who work with NAM including nonmedical personnel such as health mediators.

In this group, we can therefore include all health and social care professionals who work with NAM, such as:

• staff of public health institutions at national and local level,
• social workers,
• cultural mediators,
• personnel working for NGOs in areas related to migrants’ health.

The project defines newly arrived migrants (NAM) as legal or illegal immigrants, asylum seekers or refugees forced to leave their countries of origin, due to armed conflicts or natural disasters, as well as any other person whose nationality differs from that of the host state (whether it is a person from one of the EU/EFTA member states or from a third country), who have entered one of the consortium countries in the last 12 months.

The main activities of the project are:

1. Description of the vaccination offer, including policies, strategies and service organization in place for NAM within consortium countries;
2. Qualitative research on system barriers and solutions to vaccine uptake;
3. Mapping the stakeholders and reinforcing a network by building a vaccination literacy tool;
4. Vaccination literacy and cultural competency training session for at least 40 Health Professionals in each country (at least 20 in the small countries);
5. Development of country specific action-oriented flow charts to overcome system barriers to the effective vaccination of NAM;
6. Piloting solutions to overcome system barriers and final recommendations to increase vaccination uptake.

The project is carried out at the level of 8 European states, namely: Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania and Spain:

1. ASTIKI MIKERDOSKOPIKI ETAIREIA PROLIPSIS – Greece - Leader
2. ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITA – Italy
3. UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA – Italy
4. FUNDACIO HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARI VALL D'HEBRON - INSTITUT DE RECERCA – Spain
5. CSI CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION LTD – Cyprus
6. MINISTRY OF HEALTH – Greece
7. ETHNO-MEDIZINISCHES ZENTRUM EV – Germany
8. MINISTRY FOR HEALTH - GOVERNMENT OF MALTA – Malta
9. NARODOWY INSTYTUT ZDROWIA PUBLICZNEGO-PANSTWOWY ZAKLAD HIGIENY – Poland
10. ROMTENS FOUNDATION – Romania

Project duration: 01/05/2021 – 01/05/2024

Funding: 3rd EU Health Programme