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Quarterly Newsletter:
March 2025
Issue #15
Editorial
Prevent to Prosper: The Economic Value of Immunisation
Nicoletta Luppi, President and Managing Director at MSD Italy, Vaccines Europe Board Member
The financial burden of preventable infectious diseases is significant. Beyond the immediate costs of treatment and hospitalisation, low coverage rates and outbreaks disrupt workplaces and lower productivity.
To invest in prevention is to protect public health and drive social and economic resilience. Preventive healthcare, particularly immunisation, safeguards people’s health, reduces the strain on healthcare systems, lowers long-term medical costs, and keeps Europe’s ageing workforce active.
Evidence demonstrates that immunisation programmes deliver a high return on investment, for example adult vaccination alone generates economic benefits up to 19 times greater than the cost (33 times in the case of pneumococcal vaccination). Yet, many EU countries do not prioritise and continue to underfund prevention, missing out on the substantial value for the society and the economy that immunisation provides.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the most significant healthcare crisis in modern history, and it is paramount to learn from this experience. Despite the instrumental role vaccines played in overcoming this challenge, prevention and immunisation remain a secondary concern in many national budgets. In April 2024, the New Economic Governance Framework (NEGF), reforming the Stability and Growth Pact, was adopted, introducing new flexibilities to meet the 60% public debt and 3% deficit targets, allowing EU Member States to prioritise social and economic resilience, which includes preventive health, in their long-term fiscal plans.
Thus, there is a real opportunity to position healthcare and prevention as strategic “social security investments” in the EU economic governance tools, both as part of the implementation of the NEGF and the upcoming negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034 to ensure sustainable funding for prevention and immunisation across the EU27.
With constantly evolving challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, an ageing population, and the growing threat of infectious disease outbreaks, preventive healthcare must be a cornerstone of Europe's strategy for long-term resilience. Strengthening vaccination programmes, integrating prevention into fiscal planning, and securing long-term funding for immunisation will not only protect lives but also reinforce the foundations of economic growth and EU’s security.
By embedding prevention into its broader policy framework, Europe can ensure a healthier, more stable future where public health and economic prosperity go hand in hand.
Vaccines Europe External Engagement
Events we participated in
- FOKUS Patient® Future Days - 17-18 March, Stockholm (Sweden)
- NextGen Biomed 2025 - 12-14 March, London (UK)
- Investing For Life Health Summit - 5 March, Rome (Italy)
- Health and Security for the Future - 21 February, Warsaw (Poland)
Upcoming events
With the EU HTA Regulation now in force, this webinar, organised by Vaccines Europe, will explore the critical need to account for vaccines’ specificities in the implementation of the EU HTA Regulation to optimise their access and impact on public health, economy and society across Europe and globally.
Communications Highlights
#VaccineVoices: The role of vaccination in tackling antimicrobial resistance
Estimates suggest bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will cause 3 deaths every minute between 2025 and 2050, and we need all of the tools in our toolbox to be able to control it - including immunisation. Vaccines are a vital, yet underused tool to address AMR as they target the root causes of it. In a new episode of our #VaccineVoices series, we spoke to Charlie Weller from Wellcome about the role vaccination plays in addressing AMR. She provided an overview of what makes AMR such a significant public health threat and explained why vaccination is an important tool to address AMR. She also shared what evidence we have available that vaccination helps curb the spread of AMR, as well as how we can ensure that vaccination can be used to its full potential against AMR.
Strengthening vaccine supply chain resilience
Manufacturing high-quality, safe and effective vaccines is a highly complex and lengthy process with multiple steps. Unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters, pandemics or geopolitical conflicts may interrupt vaccine supply. The resilience of vaccine supply chains can be strengthened through understanding vaccine demand early on, implementing successful strategies from the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging stakeholder collaboration, adopting common EU packaging and e-leaflets, and investing in a highly skilled vaccine manufacturing and supply chain workforce. Learn more here.
World Cancer Day
40% of all cancers are preventable, and we need to use every available tool, including immunisation, to safeguard people’s health. This World Cancer Day, we reiterated the value of immunisation and what actions are needed to eliminate vaccine-preventable cancers in the EU, as set out in the EU Beating Cancer Plan.
In case you missed it: Innovative vaccines in development and why investment in prevention is paramount
In the context of constantly evolving health challenges, it is crucial to ensure Europe's well equipped to address them and safeguard people's health. With 98 innovative vaccines in development by Vaccines Europe member companies, the third edition of our pipeline review published in December 2024 highlights the transformative power of vaccine innovation and how it can help address the challenges we face today and tomorrow, including the ageing population, antimicrobial resistance and climate change. To harness the full benefits of vaccine innovation, sustainable investment in prevention, including immunisation, is paramount. Prevention is no longer merely an option but a necessity to preserve the European healthcare, social care and welfare systems as we know them. Prioritising investment in prevention by using the New Economic Governance Framework (NEGF) is key for a healthier future. Read more here.
Welcome to our new members
In January 2025, we welcomed two new members to Vaccines Europe - Bilthoven Biologicals and Vaxcyte. We look forward to working together towards fostering innovation and value recognition of lifecourse immunisation in Europe to protect people against evolving health challenges.
Key Figures
Member States Best Practices
MSD Italy
Under the heading, ‘Investing for Life, because Health Counts!’, MSD Italia organised the seventh ‘Inventing for Life Health Summit’, the annual health policy event to keep healthcare at the top of the Italian political agenda. The event was opened by the Minister of Health, Prof. Orazio Schillaci and by a note of Minister Urso (Economic development), followed by a keynote speech from Nicoletta Luppi, MSD Italy President and member of the Board of Vaccines Europe. “Prevention as Investment” in the new Pact for Stability and Growth was one of the major topics discussed with Ministry of Economy undersecretary Federico Freni, CEO of TEHA Valerio De Molli, and General Director of Healthcare Planning Prof. Americo Cicchetti. This was followed by a round table where Sibilia Quilici, Executive Director of Vaccines Europe, provided the position of the vaccine industry.
Health Policy Highlights
As Europe faces an increasingly complex geopolitical and economic environment, discussions around healthcare resilience and competitiveness are gaining momentum. The announcement of the ReArm Europe plan to reinforce the EU’s defence marks a shift in funding priorities. The new proposed fiscal rules, allowing greater flexibility for defence investments raise questions about the future allocation of other public funds. As a reaction, EU Ministers of Health are calling for healthcare to be recognised as an integral part of Europe’s defence strategy.
At the same time, key initiatives and legislative frameworks are taking shape, including the Competitiveness Compass, the Critical Medicines Act, and the forthcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
Competitiveness Compass
The Competitiveness Compass, launched by the European Commission in January 2024, outlines key measures to boost Europe’s economic resilience. For healthcare and pharmaceuticals, it brings promises of regulatory simplification, life sciences investment, and support for local manufacturing.
Vaccines are a strategic pillar of Europe’s health security and economic strength. While the EU has long been a global leader, hosting 22% of vaccine trials, this position is weakening as its share of global vaccine trials has declined by 35%. Delays in accessing innovative vaccines risk undermining Europe’s competitiveness.
As the EU advances its competitiveness agenda, it’s vital that the vaccine sector is part of the conversation. The Biotech Act, regulatory simplification, and better industrial coordination are key opportunities to reverse the current decline. Vaccines Europe is ready to contribute, drawing on our EU Attractiveness Report to help ensure Europe stays a global leader in vaccine innovation and manufacturing, central to EU security and sovereignty.
The Competitiveness Compass offers both promise and risk for the vaccine sector. If the specific needs of the vaccine industry are not addressed, Europe risks further decline in global competitiveness, especially in trials and biotech.
Critical Medicines Act
The European Commission unveiled the Critical Medicines Act (CMA) on March 11 to address medicine shortages and reinforce the pharmaceutical supply chain. The CMA outlines measures to boost EU-based production, reform procurement, and enhance supply security.
Vaccines Europe supports the European Commission’s ambition to strengthen Europe’s medicines supply chain through the Critical Medicines Act. More specifically, Vaccines Europe believes broader EU defense spending plans - including financial mechanisms within the new defense package - should support the Critical Medicines Act to strengthen the supply of critical medicines in Europe, as well as other measures that play an important role in increasing health security and resilience, including life-course immunisation.
Health as an investment: a strategic shift in EU fiscal policy
As Europe prepares the Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2034), there is growing momentum to rethink health funding and treat it as a long-term investment rather than a cost. With prevention representing less than 5% of health spending, the New Economic Governance Framework offers a chance to embed prevention in EU fiscal policy. Introducing a “Golden Rule” for health, classifying key health expenditures as strategic investments, could unlock essential funding for immunisation, prevention, and innovation, helping build more resilient and sustainable healthcare systems.
Prevention is rising on the political agenda, as the new SANT Committee gains legislative influence. The committee is prioritising disease prevention in key initiatives while advocating for increased investment in health. This momentum is reinforced by two new MEP Interest Groups. The Interest Group on Life Course Immunisation (LCI) promotes the importance of vaccination at all ages, pushing for improving coverage rates and combating vaccine hesitancy. Meanwhile, the Interest Group on Health Inequalities, Prevention & Risk Factors calls for EU-wide action to reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
With the EU confronting new security challenges, integrating prevention into fiscal policies is essential. Viewing health as a strategic investment will strengthen public health, innovation, and Europe's leadership.
What We Are Reading & Watching
Measles on the rise again in Europe: time to check your vaccination status - news item by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
The case for investing in a healthier future for the European Union - report by R-Health Consult for EFPIA
Pharmaceutical Industry Facts & Figures - report by IFPMA
European Health Report 2024: Keeping Health High on the Agenda - report by the World Health Organization (WHO)
