European Influenza Conferences

ESWI’s focus on communication reflects in the concept of its European Influenza Conferences, as these aim to bring together all target groups linked to influenza prevention: scientists, opinion leaders in health care and government representatives. With these conferences ESWI creates a platform to discuss topical matters on influenza.

Conference concept : The conferences have a focus on science. In addition, government representatives and opinion leaders in health care are invited to the meeting to attend separate, tailor-made programme-tracks. After all, the fight against the impact of influenza can only be won when all parties involved are well informed and ready to collaborate. The entire influenza community is therefore offered ample opportunities to exchange information and to discuss its findings in workshops, plenary meetings and informal gatherings.

Proceedings : The valuable input of participants from the entire stakeholder community resulted in a unique, written document. The conference proceedings indeed go far beyond the usual inventory of interesting scientific work presented at the conference. Instead, a dedicated issue of Vaccine is issued, which provides a lively report of the enlightening interactions among all influenza stakeholders. In a separate section, the conference conclusions (lessons learnt and actions to take) are presented.

The main conclusion of the Second European Influenza Conference was the urgent need for an improved cooperation in Europe for influenza prevention in the form of a European Influenza Task Force.

The Third European Influenza Conference focused on pandemic preparedness, in Europe and in the rest of the world.