Riga Stradiņš University (RSU) Institute of Public Health (IPH) is one of the partners in the international EU4Health project European Joint Action on Strategy for Health Interventions to Eliminate Infection-related Cancer (SHIELD). The project aims to reduce morbidity and premature mortality caused by infectious diseases and the cancers associated with them, particularly hepatitis B and C virus infections (HBV, HCV), HIV infection, tuberculosis, and human papillomavirus (HPV) infections.
The SHIELD project is coordinated by the Centre of Excellence for Health, Immunity and Infections (CHIP), Rigshospitalet, in Denmark.
Key Facts
The project involves 69 organisations from 25 countries. The total funding amounts to more than €24 million over three years.
The RSU Institute of Public Health (IPH) will participate in several project activities, including:
- evaluating national biomedical prevention programmes,
- reducing barriers to vaccination,
- improving HPV and HBV prevention,
- reducing stigma and discrimination related to HIV, HBV, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Why is this important?
One in eight cancer cases is caused by an infection such as HBV, HCV or HPV, which could have been prevented through prevention and treatment¹.
Although many European countries, including Latvia, have introduced immunisation and screening programmes, several structural and individual barriers still prevent people from getting vaccinated or seeking timely treatment. As a result, infections are sometimes treated only after they have already led to the development of cancer.
In Latvia, childhood vaccination is included in the national immunisation programme, but vaccination coverage for some infectious diseases remains low. According to data published by the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, in 2024 only 25.6% of girls and 19.7% of boys received the full HPV vaccination course (two doses) on time at the age of 12².
What will SHIELD do?
The SHIELD Joint Action project will work to ensure that HPV and HBV vaccination becomes accessible to a larger number of people and to improve screening for the diagnosis of HBV, HCV, HPV, HIV and tuberculosis.
Based on cost-effectiveness analyses and each country’s epidemiological situation, burden of infectious diseases, and vaccination coverage (HPV and HBV), the project will develop modelling tools. These tools will help better understand the national situation regarding the diagnosis and treatment of these infections (HBV, HCV, HPV, HIV and tuberculosis) and assess the potential impact of different interventions in reducing their spread.
In addition to the main objectives, the SHIELD Joint Action project will:
- support participating countries in reducing stigma and discrimination related to HIV, HBV, TB and STIs,
- provide training for healthcare professionals to prevent stigmatization during counselling and treatment,
- improve access to information on infection prevention and treatment,
- improve and adapt information on prevention, testing and treatment in both healthcare and prison systems,
- collect and disseminate good practice examples for increasing vaccination coverage across Europe.
RSU IPH participation in the SHIELD project
As a SHIELD project partner, the RSU Institute of Public Health will participate in four work packages (WP5, WP6, WP7 and WP8) in the Latvian context.
Within these work packages, the following areas will be addressed:
- evaluation of national biomedical prevention programmes, including integrated testing and vaccination, and implementation of measures to reduce infection-related stigma and discrimination (HIV, HBV, HCV, tuberculosis and STIs);
- improvement of vaccination coverage monitoring and evaluation of the impact of integrated vaccination and screening programmes;
- reduction of barriers to vaccination and strengthening prevention strategies for HPV and HBV;
- development of intervention capacity at European and national levels, including for risk groups.
References
- De Martel, C., Georges, D., Bray, F., Ferlay, J., & Clifford, G. M. (2020). Global burden of cancer attributable to infections in 2018: a worldwide incidence analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 8(2), e180–e190. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30488-7
- Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Latvia). Epidemiological Bulletin No. 29 (1948), 16 July 2025. Analysis of immunisation coverage and timeliness for January–December 2024. Available at: https://www.spkc.gov.lv/lv/parskati-par-imunizaciju
