Public Discussion: Vaccination and the Battle against Infectious Diseases and Cancer
The Ruđer Bošković Institute, as the first Croatian member of the European Cervical Cancer Association—ECCA, is proud to announce a public discussion on the topic Vaccination and the Battle against Infectious Diseases and Cancer—What Should We Do for Ourselves? What Else Can the Society Do For Us?, which will be held on January 24, 2012 from 6 to 8 pm on Kaptol 27 in Zagreb at the Tribina Grada Zagreba.
The discussion is being held on the occasion of the Sixth European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week (January 21–28, 2012) and organized by the Croatian members of the ECCA and, for the first time this year, in cooperation with the Association for the Promotion of Science and Critical Thinking.
The goal of the week is to raise awareness about cervical cancer and ways it can be prevented. In addition to the secondary prevention of cervical cancer by regular screening (Pap smears), the primary way to prevent this cancer is through vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections which, in addition to cervical cancer, causes other changes in the skin and mucosa.
Vaccinations follow us throughout our lives, from compulsory vaccinations in childhood to those recommended for certain groups of people, thus opening a series of questions. Therefore, this discussion will generally be about the vaccination of adults and children, and is intended for the citizens of the city of Zagreb and beyond who want direct contact with experts in order to become informed about this important topic.
Jagoda Dabo, M.D. M.S., Primarius, Head of School Medicine, Institute for Public Health of the Primorsko-Goranska Region, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, will speak about vaccination against HPV in a presentation entitled Vaccination and Cancer Prevention Education,. Dr. Vladimira Lesnikar, Epidemiologist, Head of the Department of Epidemiology, Dr. Andrija Štampar Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, and Goran Tešović, M.D., Ph.D., Infectious Disease Specialist, Head of the Department for Pediatric Infectious Diseases with the Intensive Care Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, will speak about the vaccination of children. The moderator will be Magdalena Grce, DERBH., Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Bacteriology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, and a member of the Board of Directors of the ECCA in Brussels.
The European Cervical Cancer Association—ECCA was founded in 2002, with the specific role of coordinating general European public health educational programs, in order to raise awareness and increase knowledge about the existence of cervical cancer and means for its prevention.
The Association for the Promotion of Science and Critical Thinking is an informal group of individuals interested in promoting better understanding of reality, the functioning of the world around us and human behavior. The association promotes the application of the scientific approach and critical thinking, and is involved in uncovering and explaining popular misconceptions in the society.