(1)Increase awareness about the most important vaccine preventable diseases which pose a particular risk to EU HCW (2)Increase awareness about Immunizations among Health Care Workers through a database comprising vaccination specific information from across the EU (3)Provide new knowledge about vaccination behaviors and barriers among HCWs(4)Widely disseminate information on best practices for promoting HCWs immunization in
different health care settings(5)Provide new knowledge on how to communicate and promote immunizations among HCWs by piloting a purpose and tailor-made Immunization Toolkit (6)Increase awareness and promote HCWs immunizations through a widely disseminated and pilot tested HCW Immunization Promotion ToolKit comprising recommendations, communication guidelines, tools and fact sheets

The 2009 Health Council Recommendation considers HCW a major risk group calling for "education, training, and information exchange on seasonal influenza and vaccination by organising:(i) information action for healthcare workers" According to the same rcommendations a new seasonal influenza vaccination target has been set to reach a vaccination coverage of 75% for the older age groups and people with chronic diseases as well as other high risk groups including HCWs.

HProImmune is strategically relevant in terms of this recommendation as it offers practical and methodological knowledge about immunizations that can contribute to the development of national immunization action plans. The new methods and tools developed will contribute to the protection of EU HCW adding significant value to the overall emergency response policy of EU. HProImmune addresses strategic objectives of the 2008-2013 WP in particular by “developing prevention and control of existing or emerging communicable diseases” (3.2.1.1., WP 2010) and by providing knowledge and tools for promoting vaccination among HCW.

1. Critical analysis and review of existing knowledge (peer reviewed literature, national recommendations, policies and legislation, databases, web sites), will lead to the identification of a short list of vaccine preventable diseases of particular threat to HCW. The review will yield the information used to populate the database which will also be presented in the form of a report
2. Direct communication with health authorities
3. Qualitative analysis through focus groups and quantitative analysis through an on line questionnaire will lead to the identification of barriers of vaccination among HCW
4. Best practice identification through the use of a purpose designed scoring system. Best practice will be verified through an expert workshop that will also lead to the development of recommendations for HCW Immunization Record and registries
5. Development and piloting of a comprehensive Immunization tool for the Promotion of immunization
6. Comprehensive dissemination strategy including workshops, info days, a project dedicated website, newsletters and press releases

A list of vaccine preventable diseases posing major threat to the health of HCW will be the first major achievement of the project.
A comprehensive Toolkit for the promotion of immunization among HCW in Europe will be developed. Through the toolkit higher vaccine coverage rates and improvement of resilience and response capacity of the European health sector will be achieved. Increased awareness through training and knowledge provision is expected to enable HCW to better protect their health and act as role models for their workplace and community.
An immunization knowledge library will be available through a database that will provide a comprehensive picture of the status of immunizations among European HCW. HProImmune will also provide important insight into the barriers of immunization among HCW and based on best practice evaluation offer recommendations for immunization of HCW.