This paper provides a consolidated overview of public and healthcare professionals' attitudes towards vaccination in Europe by bringing together for the first time evidence across various vaccines, countries and populations. The paper relies on an extensive review of empirical literature published in English after 2009, as well as an analysis of unpublished market research data from member companies of Vaccines Europe. Our synthesis suggests that hesitant attitudes to vaccination are prevalent and may be increasing since the influenza pandemic of 2009. We define hesitancy as an expression of concern or doubt about the value or safety of vaccination. This means that hesitant attitudes are not confined only to those who refuse vaccination or those who encourage others to refuse vaccination. For many people, vaccination attitudes are shaped not just by healthcare professionals but also by an array of other information sources, including online and social media sources. We find that healthcare professionals report increasing challenges to building a trustful relationship with patients, through which they might otherwise allay concerns and reassure hesitant patients. We also find a range of reasons for vaccination attitudes, only some of which can be characterised as being related to lack of awareness or misinformation. Reasons that relate to issues of mistrust are cited more commonly in the literature than reasons that relate to information deficit. The importance of trust in the institutions involved with vaccination is discussed in terms of implications for researchers and policy-makers; we suggest that rebuilding this trust is a multi-stakeholder problem requiring a co-ordinated strategy.
The past two decades have been characterised by an increasing uncoupling of economic growth and social and economic development. Outside of China, the numbers living in absolute poverty have remained stubbornly large; in Africa, they have increased substantially. Although this uncoupling has multiple sources, the trajectory of innovation (large in scale, capital intensive in nature and destructive of the environment) has contributed to these outcomes. Reorienting towards a more 'inclusive innovation' path has an important role to play in overcoming exclusion. However, we have only a weak understanding of the definition, nature and dynamics of inclusive innovation and this paper seeks to fill this conceptual gap. It argues that inclusive innovation needs to be understood and developed in the context of a holistic conception of the innovation cycle, the distinction between process and product innovation and the roles played by the poor as both producers and consumer. It further charts the growing interest of private sector actors in inclusive innovation (including, but not confined to TNCs seeking the "fortune at the bottom of the pyramid") and large global funds working in tandem with the private sector and governments. Consideration is also given to the role which growth trajectories play in determining the direction of innovation and in promoting linkages between the globally absolute poor (incomes below $1pd) and those with discretionary cash incomes living in the margins above $1pd. The paper concludes with a call for a more holistic and balanced approach to inclusive innovation to be adopted by a range of stakeholders so that resources are deployed most effectively to aid the recoupling of growth and development.
Between 1970 and 2000 the proportion of global R&D occurring in low income economies rose from two percent to more than 20 percent. However, this rising commitment to R&D does not easily translate into the emergence of a family of innovations meeting the needs of low income consumers "at the bottom of the pyramid", since much of these technological resources are invested in outdated structures of innovation. A number of transnational corporations are targeting these markets but it is our contention that much of the previously dominant innovation value chains are either ignorant of the needs of consumers at the bottom of the pyramid, or lack the technologies and organisational structures to meet these needs effectively. Instead, the firms and value chains that are likely to be most successful in these dynamic new markets are those that are emerging in China and India and other developing countries, disrupting global corporate and locational hierarchies of innovation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.