Unjustified scare or reasonable scepticism? Vaccine Safety

Unjustified scare or reasonable scepticism?
Vaccine Safety: evaluation, information and perception
20-21 April 2009
Les Pensières, Annecy, France
European Media Workshop*
Annecy, 9th March 2009
Dear Guest,
We would be honoured if you accepted to participate in our media workshop to discuss with leading experts and
representatives from authorities as well as your colleagues from other countries the evaluation, information and
perception of the safety of vaccines. Find attached the current draft of the programme for further details. Please
note that in each session half of the time will be reserved to your questions.
The workshop will take place on the first day of the 4th European Immunisation Week led by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) (http://www.euro.who.int/vaccine/eiw/20080828_1).
The public interest in vaccines has increased considerably during the past couple of years in light of the threat of
an influenza pandemic or bioterrorism, the re-emergence of almost forgotten infectious diseases (e.g. measles)
and the arrival of new vaccines (e.g. to prevent cervical cancer).
While recent discussions around the alleged association between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine
and autism (in the UK) or between the hepatitis B vaccine and multiple sclerosis (in France), are still well
remembered, reports of adverse events observed after HPV vaccination have strongly impacted this vaccination
in several countries (e.g. Germany, Spain, Austria and Greece).
The public perception of vaccine safety can strongly impact vaccination programmes. Therefore, increasing
awareness of the key characteristics of the evaluation, perception and communication of the safety of vaccines
has become very important.
Accommodation would be available free of charge in the guest house of the Mérieux Foundation. Your travel
costs could be covered by the Foundation, too, should this be acceptable for you.
To register, please go to: http://fondation-merieux.org
For further information, please contact: Catherine Dutel
+33 4 72 40 79 46 or [email protected]
Best regards,
Christophe Longuet
Medical Director
About the Mérieux Foundation
Fondation Mérieux was set up in 1967 by Doctor Charles Mérieux, in memory of his father Marcel Mérieux, a pupil of Louis
Pasteur and founder of the Mérieux Institute in 1897. An independent foundation, it works to serve the interests of public health.
Its mission is to help developing countries to combat infectious diseases. Since its creation, the foundation has advocated
openness and partnership and has built a major international scientific network. It plays the role of catalyst in local and
international initiatives working towards the same public health goals. http://www.fondation-merieux.org/
*
Hosting sponsored by an unrestricted grant from the European Vaccine Manufacturers Association (EVM)
http://www.evm-vaccines.org
1
Monday, 20th April 2009
17h00-17h30
Registration
17h30-17h45
17h45-18h30
incl. 30' Q&A
Welcome
Key note lecture
Can we be 100% sure that…?
The facts and perceptions of risks
19h15
Diner
Dr. Christophe Longuet
Fondation Mérieux, Annecy,
France
Prof. Claire-Anne Siegrist
WHO and University of Geneva,
Switzerland
All
Tuesday, 21st April 2009
08h30-09h30
incl. 30' Q&A
09h30-10h30
incl. 30' Q&A
Adverse events following immunisation
- definitions
- known/unknown events
- expected/unexpected events
- exclusive/additive risks
Dr. Katharina Hartmann
Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, Basel, Switzerland
Monitoring and evaluation of vaccine
safety before and after licensure: the
regulatory environment
Dr. Brigitte Keller-Stanislawski
Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Germany
10h30-11h00
11h00-12h00
incl. 30' Q&A
Coffee break
Detecting and assessing adverse events
following immunisation: methodological
approaches (from signal to action) – how
to distinguish cause and coincidence
12h00-13h00
13h00-14h00
incl. 30' Q&A
Lunch
Vaccine safety: the perception of risks
- The health authorities’ perspective
- The physicians’ perspective
- The users’ perspective
Risk communication and vaccines
14h00-15h00
incl. 30' Q&A
- The experts’ perspective
- The industry’s perspective
- Health authority perspective
- The media perspectives
15h00-15h30
15h30-16h00
16h00
Coffee break
Can we be 100% sure that….?
Panel discussion how to improve to mutual
understanding in the future
All
Dr. John Iskander
Centres for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA
All
Dr. Jo Yarwood
Department of Health, London, UK
Dr. Javier Diez Domingo
Vaccine Institute, Valencia, Spain
Speaker tbc
Prof. Adam Finn
University of Bristol, UK
Dr. Luc Hessel
EVM, Brussels, Belgium
Dr. Paulo Moreira
European Centres for Disease
Prevention and Control (ECDC),
Stockholm, Sweden
Volker Stollorz tbc
Science writer Cologne, Germany
Peter Wilby tbc
The Guardian, London, UK
All
All
Chaired by Prof. Adam Finn
University of Bristol, UK
End
2