Pneumonia: A View From Europe

Pneumonia is responsible for over 120,000 deaths in Europe per year, with older people and those with certain medical conditions particularly vulnerable. It places a significant burden on those affected and their families, costing approximately €10 billion per year to society.

PneuVUE® (Adult Pneumonia Vaccine Understanding in Europe) survey findings, backed by independent leading experts, show across Europe there is a generally poor understanding about the risks and prevention of pneumonia.

• 8 out of 10 adults at risk report they are not vaccinated against pneumonia
• Nearly 8 out of 10 older adults (78%) do not feel personally concerned about the risk of catching it
• Only 3 out of 10 older adults are aware that pneumonia vaccines exist
• Almost three times as many people report being regularly vaccinated against flu than receiving a vaccine against pneumonia, which is a more deadly disease.

This study looks at awareness and perceptions of the disease among the 50+ population in nine European markets. It is one of the largest pneumonia awareness consumer surveys ever conducted in Europe and is based on over 9,000 interviews conducted by telephone between November 2015 and February 2016. Quotas were imposed to ensure national representation based on age, gender, region and employment status. Corrective weights have been applied to bring the sample in line with the population profile per country and population size in each of the nine countries.