31 October 2024, Dubai – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) and its Centre for Global Studies (CGS), participated in Dubai Healthcare Future Summit represented by Senior staff of the Secretariat and by Dr. Massimo Giangaspero, Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of University of Teramo and PAM-CGS Senior Advisor on One Health.
Held from October 29-31 under the esteemed patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the summit brought together global leaders and experts in healthcare policy, infectious disease control, and vaccination. The forum serves as a platform for strategic dialogue, fostering innovation and reinforcing collective efforts to build safer, healthier communities worldwide.
Chairing the session on Vaccines: Improving Supply, Distribution, Access & Health Economics, Prof. Giangaspero emphasized the importance of prevention and immunization as central elements of the Euopean Animal Health Strategy. His intervention highlighted the urgent need to bolster community antigen and vaccine banks to enhance resilience in crisis situations. Addressing challenges to vaccine acceptance, he noted that public hesitancy, often linked to safety concerns and disinformation, presents a significant barrier to effective immunization strategies.
During his visit to the UAE, Prof. Giangaspero had the opportunity to visit the Emirates Camel Centre L.L.C, a recently established Centre with high level technological capacities, specialized on treatment of infertility in camels and application embryo transfer techniques. Discussion with Prof. Mahmoud Moussa, Head of Veterinary Dept., raised the need of an in-depth investigation on the epidemiology of pathogens with the potential to negatively affect the camel productivity. This investigation may allow to identify the causes and apply a preventive approach, instead of curative, by targeted vaccinal campaigns and radically reducing the use of antibiotics and AMR related risks, highly beneficial in the context of One Health.
Looking ahead, PAM-CGS reaffirms its commitment to furhter collaborating with the Dubai Healthcare Future Summit and other international bodies to improve One Health through vaccine quality, safety, and distribution systems. //