Eurosurveillance seminar: Vaccines and the future of public health
Vaccines are among the most important achievements in medicine and public health. They have saved an estimated 154 million lives worldwide over the past 50 years, and are considered a highly cost-effective public health intervention. There are now vaccines available to prevent over 30 life-threatening diseases and infections, or prevent severe forms of disease including measles, polio, influenza and COVID-19.
Tying in with Eurosurveillance's annual theme for 2025, Vaccine-preventable diseases in humans — today's challenges and tomorrow's opportunities, the 2025 scientific seminar focuses on how vaccines can build on their success and play a key role in addressing critical public health issues.
Three experts in their fields will highlight the underrecognised role of vaccines in reducing antimicrobial resistance as well as focus on new vaccine developments addressing vector-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, which have become more widespread globally in the 21st century. Dengue and chikungunya virus disease feature on the World Health Organization’s list of neglected tropical diseases, with global warming accelerating the spread of their mosquito vectors Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti in Europe and outbreaks recently and repeatedly occurring in Italy, France, and Spain.
Date and time
20 November 2025 14:00-15:30
Preliminary agenda
14:00-14:05 Opening of the seminar
14:05-14:10 Welcome note (moderator TBC)
14:10-14:35 'Could vaccines reduce antimicrobial resistance and use of antimicrobials?' Mateusz Hasso-Agopsowicz, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
14:35-15:00 'How basic research informed the development of the chikungunya virus vaccine' Gerald McInerney, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden
15:00-15:25 Title to be confirmed Fernanda Boulos, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brasil
15:25-15:30 Wrap up and close