AcToVax4NAM - Increased Access To Vaccination for Newly Arrived Migrants

ID Call: HP-PJ Project

Funding programme: The 3rd EU Health Programme

Sapienza's role in the project: Beneficiary partner

Scientific contact person for Sapienza: Maurizio Marceca

Department: Public health and infectious diseases

Project start date: May 1, 2021

Project end date: April 30, 2023

Project Abstract:

The project focuses on the strengthening of national immunisation systems and the dissemination and support of health literacy (with a focus on vaccination literacy - VL) at the institutional level. It intends to define processes and elements that can ensure an equitable immunisation system that can reach all segments of the population, in particular, Newly Arrived Migrants (NAM). The project will be structured to:

• Update knowledge about the reception and vaccination systems in each of the consortium countries and conduct a literature review and qualitative research to identify critical issues within the vaccine systems in each country and possible solutions;
• Strengthen and develop VL skills among health and social workers, as well as other professionals involved, such as linguistic-cultural mediators working with NAMs. Training activities are planned to disseminate cultural sensitivity, support VL skills and strengthen institutional capacity building;
• Design, construct and validate - through a participatory process - an information tool (Glossary) to strengthen health literacy among the project beneficiaries (NAM), with a focus on vaccination-related issues;
• Test, monitor and evaluate in some partner countries specific solutions to overcome systemic barriers in each country to increase vaccination uptake through concrete and effective practices.

The activities of the DSPMI within the project are:

• Collaborating in the drafting of the General Conceptual Framework;
• Guiding and implementing the entire WP5, which includes: mapping of stakeholders and actors; drafting of an accurate, accessible and implementable glossary in support of migrant vaccination literacy; organisation of a validation workshop with mapped stakeholders and actors; development of training material content; organisation of training activities; translation of all content into all consortium languages;
• Co-leading the implementation of WP7
• Together with the ISS, developing all project activities taking place in Italy.