WAidid and ESVAG joint meeting on Vaccination of older adults was held in Milan last December 2nd, 2016.
The aims of the meeting were to bring together various stakeholders to identify gaps and barriers in making older adult vaccination a reality and to identify further joint actions in Europe.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The high proportion of elderly has become a major challenge worldwide and ageing is a key reason for making improvement in vaccination coverage as a cornerstone of public health strategies. An increase in age-related diseases is likely to be seen in the near future, and there are risk factors for the occurrence of a number of vaccine-preventable diseases.
An improvement in infectious diseases prevention specifically aimed at adults and elderly can therefore also decrease the burden of chronic conditions by reducing waning immunity, morbidity, disability, hospital admissions, healthcare costs, and mortality rates. Among adults age 50 or older, it is necessary to highlight the epidemiological and societal impact and benefits of vaccinations using an evidence-based approach. 

PARTICIPANT
Atika Abelin, Sanofi Pasteur (FRANCE)
Pilar Arrazola, Preventive Medicine Hospital, Madrid (SPAIN)
Florence Baron-Papillon, Sanofi Pasteur – MSD (FRANCE)
Ingo Beyer, Geriatric Department UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels (BELGIUM)
Paolo Bonanni, University of Florence (ITALY)
Christian Chidiac, Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Vaccinations Internationales, Vaccination des Immunodéprimés Hospices Civils de Lyon - Hôpital de La Croix Rousse (FRANCE)
Roman Chlibek, Department of Epidemiology, Vaccination Centre Faculty of Military Health Sciences - University of Defence, Hradec Kralove (CZECH REPUBLIC)
Soizic Courcier, GSK (FRANCE)
Rebecca Jane Cox Brokstad, Influenza Centre Department of Clinical Science University of Bergen (NORWAY)
Magdalena De Azero, Vaccines Europe (BELGIUM)
Alexander Domnich, Seqirus Srl (ITALY)
Susanna Esposito, University of Milan; WAidid President; Chair of EVASG Executive Committee (ITALY)
Filipe Froes, Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit  (UCIMC) - Hospital Pulido Valente, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte (PORTUGAL)
Gaetan Gavazzi, University of Grenoble-Alpes and University clinic of geriatric medicine (FRANCE)
Daphne Holt, Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (UNITED KINGDOM)
Karina Jahnz-Rózyk, ISPOR Poland Chapter (POLAND)
Zuzana Kristufkova, Slovak Vaccinology and Epidemiology Society (SLOVAK REPUBLIC)
Angel Kunchev, Ministry of Health (BULGARIA)
Odile Launay Puybasset, Comité technique des vaccinations - Haut Conseil de la Santé Publique (HCSP) (FRANCE)
Pier Luigi Lopalco, Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery (ITALY)
Nicoletta Luppi, MSD (ITALY)
Peggy Maguire, European Institute Women’s Health (IRELAND)
Pascale Mauran, International Developed Markets Vaccines Commercial Development (FRANCE)
Aukse Mickiene, Department of Infectious Diseases, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LITHUANIA)
Aneta Nitsch-Osuch, Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Warsaw Medical University (POLAND)
Valerie Oriol, Janssen (THE NETHERLANDS)
Raul Ortiz de Lejarazu, WHO National Influenza Center (SPAIN)
Lucia Pastore Celentano, Disease Programme Vaccine-preventable Diseases, ECDC (SWEDEN)
Carsten Michael Pfleiderer, Biopharma Excellence - Munich (GERMANY)
Gregory Poland, Vaccine Research Group, Mayo Clinic (USA)
Roman Prymula, Charles University Prague (CZECH REPUBLIC)
Andrea Rappagliosi, Vaccines Europe (FRANCE)
Giovanni Rezza, Infectious Diseases Unit at the National Institute of Health (ITALY)
Giuseppe Enrico Rivolta, UEMO – European Union of General Practioners (ITALY)
Joe Schmitt, Pfizer (GERMANY)
Anthony Scott, The Vaccine Centre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UNITED KINGDOM)
Joseph P. Sevilla, Data for Decisions LLC and Research Associate, Harvard Chan School of Public Health (USA)
Michael Sulzner, Unit Crisis management and preparedness in health, policy officer in charge of vaccination for the European Commission (LUXEMBOURG)
Mondher Toumi, Public Health Department - Research Unit EA 3279 Faculty of Medecine Aix Marseille University (FRANCE)
Péter Vajer, Department of Family Medicine Semmelweis University Budapest (HUNGARY)
Bernard Van der Zeijst, Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center (THE NETHERLANDS)
Birgit Weinberger, Biomedial Aging Research University of Innsbruck (AUSTRIA)