VHPB Technical meeting: Addressing Viral Hepatitis Among Europe’s Migrant and Refugee Population: lessons learnt and the way forward
LIST OF LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR THIS ACTIVITY
- Provide an overview of the available information concerning viral hepatitis among migrants and refugees in Europe, highlighting areas of concern and the associated public health threat.
- Examine efforts aimed at enhancing healthcare access for migrants and refugees, with a particular focus on viral hepatitis prevention, vaccination, screening, diagnosis and treatment.
- Evaluate the potential benefits and challenges of implementing guidelines for testing, treatment, and vaccination of migrants across Europe.
- Explore potential collaborations among the different stakeholders to enhance viral hepatitis prevention and control efforts among migrants and refugees.
- Lessons learnt from project and initiatives focusing on prevention and control of viral hepatitis in migrants
- Discuss the relation to the WHO elimination goals outlined in the new WHO Global Health Sector Strategies for 2022-2030.
- Discuss achievements, challenges and the way forward.
Background document (693kb, Pdf)
TUESDAY 26 MARCH 2024 – PART 1
INTRODUCTION
| Chairs: Pierre Van Damme & Greet Hendrickx | |
| 09:00-09:40 | Welcome by Herman Van Goethem (Rector of the University of Antwerp, Belgium) Meeting kickoffOpening presentation, incl. introduction VHPB & meeting objectives Introduction of the participants |
SESSION 1.1: SETTING THE SCENE – MIGRATION AND VIRAL HEPATITIS IN EUROPE
| 09:40-10:00 | Migration in Europe and access to health services for migrants (ONLINE) (pdf, 0.863Mb)Jozef Bartovic (WHO Euro) |
| 10:00-10:20 | The Forgotten people: Hepatitis B virus infection as a priority for the inclusion health agenda (pdf, 23.421Mb)Philippa Matthews (University College London, UK) |
| 10:20-10:30 | Q&A |
COFFEE BREAK 10:30-11:00
SESSION 1.2: HEPATITIS SCREENING AND BURDEN OF DISEASE IN EUROPEAN MIGRANTS
| Chairs: Sema Mandal & Stéphane Chevaliez | |
| 11:00-11:15 | Hepatitis B and C virus infection and screening among migrants in EU/EEA countries. (pdf, 2.305Mb)Ndeindo Ngrango Ndeikoundam (ECDC) |
| 11:15-11:30 | Point-of-care testing for hepatitis B and C in migrants in diverse community centres. (pdf, 4.33Mb)Elisa Martró (Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital and Research Institute (IGTP), Spain) |
| 11:30-11:45 | Hepatitis A outbreak in a refugee shelter in Kiel, northern GermanyAnne Marcic (Public Health Department Kiel, Germany) (pdf, 1.187Mb)Jürgen Wenzel (University Medical Center Regensburg, Germany) (pdf, 2.251Mb) |
| 11:45-12:00 | Value of community-based viral hepatitis strategies among migrants in Europe (VH-COMSAVAC) (pdf, 1.167Mb)Melissa D’Agostino (Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy) |
| 12:00-12:15 | HEPARJOC: an educational tool to promote early hepatitis screening in migrants in Barcelona (pdf, 11.107Mb)Jordi Gómez I Prat (University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Spain) |
| 12:15-12:30 | Developing a well-accepted study design for people born outside Germany – the HepMig Pilot, GermanySandra Dudareva (Robert Koch Institute, Germany) |
| 12:30-12:50 | Q&A |
LUNCH BREAK 12:50-13:50
SESSION 1.3: LINKAGE TO CARE, ACCESS TO TREATMENT AND HEALTH INEQUALITIES
| Chairs: Camila Picchio & Rania Tohme | |
| 13:50-14:10 | Health inequalities in the management of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in patients from sub-Saharan Africa in high-income countries. (pdf, 1.739Mb)Geoffrey Dusheiko (King’s College Hospital, UK) |
| 14:10-14:30 | Optimisation of linkage to care for hepatitis B/C infected ethnic minorities in Belgium. (pdf, 1.864Mb)Thomas Vanwolleghem, (UZA/UA, Belgium) |
| 14:30-14:50 | A Model to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis Infection in Migrants: A Prospective, Multicenter Study in Southern Italy (ONLINE) (pdf, 3.083Mb)Mariantoinetta Pisaturo (University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy) |
| 14:50-15:10 | Viral hepatitis control in Ukrainian refugees in Poland (pdf, 1.724Mb)Robert Flisiak (Medical University of Bialystok, Poland) |
| 15:10-15:30 | Joint statement EASL, WHO Euro and ECDC: Ensuring high-quality viral hepatitis care for refugees from Ukraine. (pdf, 1.33Mb)Maria Buti (EASL) |
| 15:30-15:40 | Q&A |
COFFEE break 15:40-16:10
SESSION 1.4: POINT OF VIEW OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS SUPPORTING MIGRANT HEALTH
| Chairs: Thomas Vanwolleghem & Sandra Dudareva | |
| 16:10-17:00 | Panel discussionECDC – Ndeindo Ngrango Ndeikoundam WHO HQ – Antons Mozalevskis WHO Euro – Marcelo Naveira European Coalition for Migrants and Refugees – Suad Mohamed Médecins Du Monde – Ernst Wisse Doctors Without Borders – Jean-Paul MangionIOM – Cristina Profili International Centre for Migration, Health and Development (ICMHD) – Manuel Carballo (ONLINE) |
SESSION 1.5: PREVENTION
| 17:00-17:20 | From AcToVax4NAM: General conceptual framework for understanding how to improve vaccination coverage among newly arrived migrants. (pdf, 4.212Mb)Silvia Declich (ISS, Italy) |
| 17:20-17:40 | Trends of acute hepatitis in migrants in Italy and potential impact of vaccinations. (pdf, 1.375Mb)Maria Elena Tosti (ISS, Italy) |
| 17:40-18:10 | Vaccination initiatives highlighted and open floor discussionMobile vaccination team in Flanders – Heidi Theeten (Zorg, Belgium) (pdf, 0.319Mb)Vaccine initiatives within VH-COMSAVAC – Camila Picchio (ISGlobal, Spain) (pdf, 7.799Mb) |
| 18:10 | Closing of Day 1 |
DINNER at 19:30
WEDNESDAY 27 MARCH 2024 – PART 2
SESSION 2.1: NATIONAL POLICIES & INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES ADDRESSING MIGRANT HEALTH INEQUALITIES
| Chairs: Angela Dominguez & Maria Buti | |
| 09:00-09:20 | National policies for delivering hepatitis B and C virus infection services for refugees and migrants among member states of the WHO European Region. (pdf, 2.103Mb)Antons Mozalevskis (WHO HQ) (pdf, 2.103Mb) & Marcelo Naveira (WHO Euro) (pdf, 0.546Mb) |
| 09:20-09:40 | RIVER-EU: Reducing inequalities in vaccine uptake in the European Region – Engaging underserved communities. (pdf, 1.06Mb)Pania Karnaki (Prolepsis Institute, Greece) |
| 09:40-10:00 | Integrated services to better address the needs of migrants who use drugs (ONLINE)Roberto Perez-Gayo (Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network) |
| 10:00-10:20 | Potential of the electronic Personal Health Record system for migrants and refugees arriving in Europe (ONLINE) (pdf, 3.064Mb)Ana Requena Méndez (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden) |
| 10:20-10:30 | Cancer RADAR – mapping cancer risk by migration background in Europe (pdf, 1.95Mb)Catharina (Nienke) Alberts (Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands) |
| 10:30-10:40 | Q&A |
COFFEE break 10:40-11:10
SESSION 2.2: GOOD PRACTICES AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR EU WIDE IMPLEMENTATION
| Chairs: Antons Mozalevskis & Mojca Maticic | |
| 11:10-12:10 | GROUPS DISCUSSION: Improving care of migrants is key for viral hepatitis elimination in EuropeDiscussion in 4 groups on the most important identified barriers and opportunities and how to move forward. |
| 12:10-12:40 | Outcome of the groups discussions by group leaders & general discussion |
LUNCH 12:40-14:10
SESSION 2.3: MEETING SUMMARY
| Chairs: Marcelo Naveira & Françoise Roudot-Thoraval | |
| 14:10-14:40 | Meeting summary (pdf, 0.552Mb)David FitzSimons |
| 14:40-15:00 | Closing remarks |
Mdeon visum: 24/V2/15542/009367