As a member of the Coalition for Vaccination, the Council of European Dentists (CED) joins other healthcare professionals in urging European countries to increase vaccination coverage and tackle misinformation.

The Coalition for Vaccination is concerned that the success of vaccine protection may be in danger, due to vaccine hesitancy, vaccine shortages, misinformation and disinformation, and structural barriers to access within healthcare systems.

This includes a call to increase coverage rates for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, aligning with the CED’s call to step up universal, gender-neutral HPV vaccination to eliminate cervical cancer as well HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers.

Losing protection could have dangerous consequences for individuals and population groups.

The Coalition for Vaccination supports the European Commission’s continued work, alongside Member States, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and the European Medicines Agency, to:

• Provide clear, accessible, and evidence-based information
• Actively counter misinformation and disinformation
• Support national vaccination strategies based on scientific evidence
• Provide adequate education and continuing professional development for healthcare professionals,
• Monitor the performance of immunisation programmes
• Advance a European digital vaccination card
• Improve transparency in vaccine approval processes
• Strengthen independent, national and EU-wide vaccine safety surveillance.

Read the full statement here.