KEYWORDS:
Immunization registers, Information systems
BACKGROUND:
Immunization programs in the European Union vary between countries with respect to antigens, vaccination schedule, methods for estimating immunization coverage and organization of programs.
Several countries are developing or plan to develop electronic information systems for immunizations.
OBJECTIVE:
To describe the status of immunization registers in the European Union.
METHOD:
Review of published and unpublished material, survey sent to sent to responsible public health officers, interviews with key individuals.
RESULT:
In 2002 sixteen countries were members of the European Union. National information systems with data on personal identifiers, received antigens and vaccine dose and time of vaccination were established in five countries. Information systems covering one or more regions were established in four countries. Only one information system developed by the childcare organization “Kind-& Gezind” in the Flemish part of Belgium was fully computerized.
Electronic systems are under development in six countries. Important obstacles to development of immunization registers in EU member countries are concerns about protection of privacy and division of responsibilities for immunization program between national agencies and/or between agencies at national and regional levels.
CONCLUSION:
Most EU countries have obsolete immunisation information systems. Increased international collaboration could diminish duplication of efforts, facilitate collection of comparable data and help overcome inertia.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To describe current the status of immunization information systems in EU countries.
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Back to The 2003 Immunization Registry Conference (October 27-29, 2003)