Trust in exchange of data for secondary use purposes

Covid infection in vaccinated people in autumn/winter

Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and hospitalisation rate in children

Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in Europe

Currently there is a systematic review conducted on the prevalence of 4 sexually transmitted infections in Europe: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis. We are conducting extensive literature searches in bibliographic databases but are also interested in grey literature. We would be very grateful if you could:

• indicate to us any reports on the prevalence of any of the 4 STIs in your country, published/conducted within the last 10 years, that has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal
• and/or forward our request to experts in the field in your country!

(The focus of this request is on grey literature, but please don’t hesitate to also indicate relevant peer-reviewed literature, especially recent publications.)

Please note that for this review we are not interested in incidence estimates derived from routine surveillance (i.e., number of case notifications per national/regional population), but only in prevalence estimates derived from a study where the total population of tested individuals is known and described.

Covid-19 combined vaccination

In countries where Covid-19 is vaccinated combined with another immunization, e.g. against influenza, was there a (remarkable) increase of Covid-19 vaccinations? What could have caused this increase, what are the possible reasons? Are there any learnings with such a system? Please share your experiences.

Covid-19 measures – Update per October 2023

The following Y/N questions, asked in a live poll during the meeting, are intended to be displayed on the Health Information Portal:

A. Vaccination

1. Is Covid-19 vaccination for free in your country?

2. Is a booster vaccination free in your country?

3. Is Covid-19 vaccination or booster available in pharmacies?

4. Do you have a vaccination strategy / recommendation for children below 12 years?

B. Surveillance

5. Is there a Long-Covid strategy in place in your country?

6. Does your country have a registry on Long-Covid patients?

7. Is there a wastewater monitoring in your country or at least regionally?

8. Is there a national Covid-19 dashboard that is currently being serviced?

C. Measures

9. Are there actually any measures or restrictions in place?

10. Is self-testing for free in your country?

11. Is it possible to book a test-slot for free in your country?

12. Is it possible to book a test-slot against payment in your country?

13. Is it mandatory to wear face masks in hospital settings?

14. Is an evaluation of the pandemic measures in your country planned or already ongoing?

15. Can the pandemic response team be reactivated any time quickly (within 2 days)?

Harmonising advances in Long COVID research: Uniting European actors for solutions

Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (ELSI) on Health Data Processing

• Are there any best practices or specific limitations? 
• Are there efforts for more coherent ELSI principles?
• Which enablers or which barriers do you experience?
• Current changes in legislation (e.g. in light of upcoming EHDS regulation)?

New Covid-19 variants

• How are MoH preparing for the next winter? Are there any specific plans or are you aware of any ongoing planning with regard to the new Covid-19 strains BA 2.86 (Pirola) and EG 5 (Eris)?
• To what extent are MoHs using lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic? Please give examples.

Biosimilar medicines

• Interchangeability: Does your country have a legal arrangement in place such that once a biosimilar is approved in the EU (or through some other mechanism) it is interchangeable, which means the biosimilar can be used instead of its reference product (or vice versa) or one biosimilar can be replaced with another biosimilar of the same reference product? If so, please briefly describe the arrangement?
• Substitution at point of issuing medicine: Can a pharmacist / dispenser substitute biological medicines with biosimilars at the point of dispensing (e.g., at a pharmacy/hospital)?
  • If so, is it a requirement of State-funded schemes / social health insurance reimbursement to substitute with the available medicine of lowest costs or medicines within a lower cost bracket? (i.e., only reimburse the preferred biosimilar)
  • If so, does the pharmacist/dispenser receive training or specific payment from the Government or insurer?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
• Has the above approach encountered criticism in your country?
• Influencing clinical prescribing of biosimilar medicines: How is this done (e.g., incentives as in Best Value Biologics Programme (BvB), described below)?
• Broad process of choosing preferred biosimilars: What is the overall process to determine preferred biosimilars for prescribing over their reference biological medicine? For instance, what broad criteria are used, and what organisation has responsibility for this?
• Response to the EMA September statement: Following the September statement from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (presented below) on the interchangeability of biosimilars, is your country planning any changes to increase biosimilar penetration/uptake?