Call to Action: Life-Course Vaccination

International Health and Community NGOs Advocate for Life-Course Vaccination

Adopted following the meeting on November 4–5, 2024

CAGI Centre: Route de Ferney, 106. 1202 Geneva

Preamble

We, a group of international health and associated health-related NGOs, agree on the importance of comprehensive vaccination programs across the entire life course, with particular attention to safeguarding populations at risk, including health and social care professionals, who face serious and potentially life-altering consequences due to vaccine-preventable diseases.

We, NGOs representing health professionals and associated health-related organizations, and the millions of individuals who form the membership base of these organizations, call for action to increase investment in and support for equitable vaccination access for all throughout all stages of life.

We do so:

• By recognizing health and social care professionals as critical to protect populations against vaccine-preventable diseases and as influential advocates for immunization within the populations they serve, while emphasizing the need to expand this call to action to encompass the broader population.
• Understanding that encouraging life course vaccination, with a focus on equity and reducing disparities, will improve population health and the resilience of health systems through the protection against vaccine preventable diseases of:
  • Individual health workers,
  • Their families,
  • The patients and communities they serve,
  • Healthcare systems, and
  • Broader communities.

Call to Action

We urge member organizations and their millions of members to advocate at local, national, regional, and international levels to:

1. Ensure that all recommended vaccines are accessible, affordable, and available to health and social care workers to prevent them from contracting vaccine-preventable diseases and to reduce the incidence of infections transmitted from health and social care workers to other members of the population, particularly higher-risk population groups.
2. Guarantee equitable access to vaccines throughout the life course, tailored to every stage of life.
3. Mobilize the health workforce for vaccine delivery and ensure the appropriate tools and resources to support vaccination.
4. Establish, in order to complement paediatric vaccination, a comprehensive equitable vaccine schedule for adults.
5. Develop and maintain robust, interoperable immunization registries to monitor vaccine uptake and coverage in real-time.
6. Integrate vaccination as a multi-sectoral priority across diverse health domains.
7. Expand and simplify vaccination pathways.
8. Raise awareness about the value of vaccination through the whole of life and build vaccine confidence.
9. Develop mechanisms to integrate community priorities and embed community engagement into vaccine development.
10. Leverage the critical role of youth through to ageing health organizations and professionals to build capacity and champion vaccination initiatives among healthcare workers and their communities.

Supported by:

• International Council of Nurses (ICN)
• International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA)
• International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW)
• International Federation on Ageing (IFA)
• International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)
• International Pharmaceutical Student’s Federation (IPSF)
• Junior Doctors Network, World Medical Association (JDN, WMA)
• World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA)
• World Medical Association (WMA)
• World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA)