The demographic trend leaves no doubt. We are starting towards a real bubble consisting of a high number of People forward with the Anni, in many cases with chronic diseases. And targeted and effective prevention can become the strategic tool to protect the individual and encourage the sustainability of public health.
To report this reality, circumventing it with facts and numbers fruit of science, is the position document “Towards a new vaccination prevention model in the elderly. Operational proposals for a model based on evidence, sustainability and organizational capacity“The document was presented by Happyageing – Italian alliance for active aging – for more than 10 years spokesperson for the over 65 in Health – during the national assembly on the prevention of infectious diseases in the elderly at the Italian Encyclopedia Institute Treccani.
Born more than 10 years ago with the aim of promoting policies and initiatives for the protection of the health of the elderly in Italy, Happyageingspokesperson for this population, tries to guarantee well -being and rights. The alliance represents, in fact, a single platform of comparison, proposal and action between the scientific, associative and trade union realities that make it up. The publication, created following a comparison with the CIP – Interregional Prevention Coordination and important actors directly involved in the organization, management and monitoring of vaccination programs, proposes a new strategic approach based on three fundamental dimensions – scientific, organizational and economic – to make the vaccination system closer to the real needs of the Over population 65.
The value of vaccination prevention
On the economic level, the document highlights a chronic underestimation the value of vaccination as an investment. The resources intended for prevention are limited, rigid and often absorbed by the maintenance of the existing at the expense of innovation. Structural tools are missing to evaluate the economic return of vaccination strategies. Yet the insufficient vaccination coverage between the adult and elderly population generates a significant economic impact: An annual loss of 610 million euros in tax revenue is estimated, an increase in social costs of 3.1 billion and up to 10.8 billion losses in terms of GDP.
However, the future must be drawn to obtain the best results. According to Michele Conversano, president of the technical scientific committee of Happyageing,
“Today we need a clear and coherent vision that allows the elderly to live longer but above all in good health. Vaccination is a formidable tool to prevent infectious diseases, reduce the load of morbidity and mortality, limit hospitalizations and preserve the autonomy of the subjects, in addition to allowing the health system to allocate their resources more efficiently. But the roofs are still too low and the organizational fragmentation creates dispelling unacceptable “.
“From a scientific point of view, the main limit is represented by the lack of timely update of the vaccination calendar of the national vaccination prevention plan (PNPV) which no longer reflects the current scientific evidence or the evolution of the epidemiological panorama. application dysomogeneity between regions, operational uncertainties It is a delay in the integration of innovations, such as vaccines against the respiratory virus (RSV), in the offer paths for the elderly population “.
The proposals of the document for vaccinations
According to reports, there are several points to keep in mind in drawing the future. First of all, it is necessary to formally update the national calendarmaking the new indications explicit and ensuring an alignment between recommendations and implementation. . It is also essential to have the ministerial update circular for the time every year flu vaccination and for Covid-19as well as the update of the vaccination indications for theShingles. Finally, it is important to guarantee equity between territories in the vaccination offer.
Report Conversano.
Not to be underestimated, according to experts, is also the “simplicity” of the passages to reach the vaccination, with proximity strategies that help people obtain the performance that can favor their well -being.
“It is necessary to build a vaccination offer throughout the year which provides for the decreased administrations through the Definition of a ‘vaccination calendar’ which also includes all vaccinations for the elderly foreseen by the PNPV and thus planning the administration of non -seasonal ones outside the autumn period. Among the most effective tools there is certainly the active call, which must be operational by age group through traditional means, such as the letter or phone call, or innovative means such as SMS, instant messaging apps and emails. Compared to the processing of sensitive data, it appropriate to introduce a clear rule that allows the use of current flows to target preventive initiatives, with adequate guarantees for citizens “
comments Francesca Russo, CIP coordinator, interregional prevention coordination.
How to improve the organization
The organizational dimension is unfortunately confirmed, still fragile: fragmented governance, incomplete vaccination registry and delays in accessing the data hinder planning and monitoring. To these critical issues are added still a marginal use of the active call and the limits in the interoperability of information systems and in the management of sensitive data for prevention purposes.
Access to the over 65 vaccines, however, cannot depend on the place where you live. In the Happyageing document, some possible solutions advance:
- make the national control room operational for the new PNPV and ministerial circulars with guidelines and monitoring tasks;
- strengthen the digital infrastructure for more integrated and efficient management of the offer (vaccination registry and data management);
- enhance the role of the prevention departments in the area as a central organ in the coordination of the network of operators that revolve around vaccinations;
- adopt a unified model of informed consent to encourage a responsible and conscious choice by the citizen;
- expand the actors of the vaccination offer (strengthen the collaboration with general practitioners, hospital and territorial specialists, and pharmacies);
- create an adequate communication path to the population.
