EU Flu Day 2023

The fourth edition of the EU Flu Day took place on Wednesday 11 October at the European Parliament (Brussels) organised by the Steering Group on Influenza Vaccination. 

Hosted by MEP István Ujhelyi, member of the EP Subcommittee on Public Health, the  hybrid event featured keynote presentations, a panel discussion and a Q&A session. As member of the Steering Group (SG), ESWI Chair Prof. Colin Russell took part in this discussion together with MEP Dolors Montserrat, Co-Chair of the Steering Group, and Isabel de la Mata, principal advisor on health and crisis management to the European Commission. 

The theme for this year was how to empower healthcare professionals to promote vaccination and tackle vaccine hesitancy: Empowering Healthcare Professionals for Everyone’s Protection. Furthermore, the panel discussion explored how national and European policymakers can support doctors, nurses and pharmacists involved in vaccination. 

Every year, up to 70.000 Europeans die of causes associated with seasonal influenza and up to 50 million suffer from symptomatic infections.