The reality in which we find ourselves in 2020 has made it clear that vaccine prophylaxis is a vital aspect of the healthcare system and is a common cause that must link government, research centers, and manufacturers in a holistic way, as well as involving the community as the main consumer, each one of us. Should one participant drop out of the system or not be fully involved in it, the system will cease to function.

This topic was the core of the discussion: how to engage people and inspire their trust, and what conditions and actions are needed to do so. Experts joined the online panel to speak about the ways to communicate the benefits and safety of vaccine prophylaxis to the general public. The speakers were Elena Baibarina (Director of the Department of Child Health and Childbirth Services), Marina Fedoseenko (Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Pediatrics of the Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University), Yan Vlasov (All-Russian Union of Patients), Tatiana Butskaya (Chair of the Russian Mothers Council), Evgenia Kudashova (Head of Public Health and Medical Prevention Centre, Voronezh State Medical University named after N. N. Burdenko) and others.  

Immunoprophylaxis is a public health priority. While experts are working to improve and expand the National Preventive Immunisation Calendar, public health awareness activities need to be stepped up.

The event was moderated by Alexander Plakida, Executive Director of the Effective Healthcare Platform of RANEPA, Adviser to the Vice-Rector of RANEPA. He suggested that, on the one hand, the past decade and the performance of Pharma 2020 have shown how much has been done by key players in the pharmaceutical industry and, on the other hand, the results have enabled new challenges to be outlined for the future horizon. Optimization of the National Preventive Immunisation Calendar should be the basis for implementing the Strategy 2035 objectives.

This calendar should include vaccines to prevent rotavirus, chickenpox, human papillomavirus, and meningococcal disease, as well as expanded vaccination of all infants against Haemophilus influenzae type b, inactivated polio vaccines for all newborns, and pertussis revaccination.

Maxim Stetsyuk, Executive Director of NANOLEK, shared what helps NANOLEK gain credibility for its products: “We try to be clear and consistent in telling people about our work, our partners, and our production site. We stand for openness in the market and giving full information about the products on all platforms accessible, including social media.”

Maxim also referred to the foreign trend towards digitalization which the Russian industry is gradually adopting and which will make it possible to trace the whole route of an individual vaccine bottle from a production site to a particular child. When patients see that the manufacturer takes full responsibility for the quality of its products, they will have more confidence in vaccination on the whole,” said Stetsyuk.

Marina Fedoseeva, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Pediatrics of the Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, believes that vaccination education cycles are highly important and that these should be given to students at higher education institutions and those in the workforce regularly. “The poor communication of vaccination messages to different categories of patients is a major problem for the professional community worldwide,” stressed the expert.

Evgenia Kudashova, Ph.D., participant in the ”Woman Leader” program, head of the Centre for Public Health and Medical Prevention (in Voronezh), winner of the ”Health Care” track, super finalist in the ”Leaders of Russia 2020” competition, says that raising awareness of the benefits and necessity of vaccination is important; employers can help organize educational modules for adults, with a special focus on women, since women are known opinion leaders on health in their families. This kind of project is scheduled to start. The first phase of the project aims to build motivation, while the second phase is to help people meet the deadlines and specifics of their customized vaccination schedule through the latest software solutions such as smartphone apps.