Doc. 7964

1 December 1997

Vaccination in Europe

Reply to Recommendation 1317 (1997)

from the Committee of Ministers

adopted on 25 November 1997 at the 609^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies

The Committee of Ministers has taken note of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1317 (1997) on vaccination in Europe and welcomes the Assembly's interest in current public health problems. The recent reappearance in some member states of epidemics of infectious diseases once thought to be under control once again shows that such diseases do not know national borders and are still a matter of common concern for Europeans. For this reason, the European Health Committee (CDSP) is currently considering questions relating to vaccination policies as part of its study of criteria for prevention policies.

In reply to Assembly Recommendation 1317 (1997) and after consulting the CDSP and the European Office of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Committee of Ministers wishes to make a number of general remarks. It is of the opinion, in particular, that the transition process and the recently introduced reforms in the health care systems of Council of Europe member states in central and eastern Europe cannot be the sole real cause of the worsening health problems in those countries. It should also be noted that the diphtheria epidemic particularly mentioned in the Assembly's text is under control there and that primary immunisation has been practised in the countries originating from the former Soviet Union. Some countries, such as the Russian Federation, are self-sufficient in vaccines, and many diseases are controlled by mass immunisation: this is the case, for example, with poliomyelitis. This does not, however, mean that certain immunisation programmes should not be extended, eg immunisation against measles or against the various forms of bacterial meningitis. Efforts are, moreover, being made along these lines in a number of European countries, especially in western Europe, where immunisation rates are rising.

The Committee of Ministers approves the Assembly's intention with regard to the need to alert opinion to the fact that complacency is unacceptable in this field and it shares the Assembly's concern to see more efficient application of well-known public health policies and measures whose effectiveness has long been demonstrated. The development of national vaccination policies, improvements in the quality of locally produced vaccines (GMP standards) and sound management of vaccination programmes remain a major concern of the member States' health services. The good health of the population is an integral part of harmonious and prosperous development in every member State and throughout Europe. The European Health Ministers, meeting for their 5th Conference in Warsaw on 7 and 8 November 1996, tried to find common responses to the new challenges arising in public health at a time of sweeping political, social, economic and technological change in Europe. In their final communique, the Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the principles of solidarity, equity and protection of patients' rights through a tripartite consensus among patients, health care providers and paymasters. The final text of the Warsaw Conference has been forwarded to the Parliamentary Assembly for information and to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and non-governmental organisations working in the sector.

With regard to paragraph 7.i of Recommendation 1317, the Committee of Ministers wishes to assure the Parliamentary Assembly that pan-European cooperation on immunisation is well-established and has long been practised to the member States' satisfaction under WHO's immunisation programme, which concerns 51 States in the "Europe" region. Consequently, because it wishes to avoid any duplication in international relations, the Committee of Ministers considers it unnecessary, in the framework of the Council of Europe, to draw up a new pan-European policy for immunising the population. Furthermore, support for eastern Europe, and recently for Albania and the States of former Yugoslavia in particular, is provided by the Inter-agency Immunisation Coordinating Committee (IICC), which was established at Kyobe (Japan) in 1994 at the initiative of Japan and the United States. Its members include WHO, UNICEF, the International Federation of the Red Cross, Rotary International, USAID, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and Japan.

With regard to the last paragraph (7.ii) of Recommendation 1317, the Committee of Ministers again draws the Assembly's attention to the final text of the 5th Conference of European Health Ministers, which is in line with the concept of the right to health enshrined in the European Social Charter and with that of the right to equitable access to health care guaranteed in the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. Furthermore, the Second Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 10-11 October 1997) confirmed the member States' commitment to treat social rights as indispensably complementing the promotion of human rights and human dignity. The Action Plan of the Strasbourg Summit provides for the promotion of social standards as embodied in the Social Charter and in other Council of Europe instruments. It also calls for the widest possible accession to these instruments and advocates improved exchanges of good practice and information among member States and intensified intergovernmental co-operation in this field. Recommendation 1317 has been brought to the attention both of the member Governments and of the Committee of Independent Experts and the Governmental Committee of the European Social Charter.