Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a common illness that 1 in 3 people will develop in their lifetime (i) . It typically presents itself as an itchy rash, with painful blisters across the chest, abdomen, or face (ii) . Shingles can cause severely debilitating pain, such as relentless, burning pain and long periods of discomfort (iii). Some patients can experience post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) after the rash is gone, a chronic and often debilitating neurogenic pain that impedes many patients’ ability to perform daily activities (iv). The Burden of Pain: A Societal Impact of Pain (SIP) Book of Evidence, accounts PHN as being 60-70% likely to occur for those above the age of 60 years old Despite the severity and prominence of Shingles, awareness is low, with only 44% of adults being conscious of the condition (vi).
The International Federation on Ageing (IFA), in collaboration with GSK, is again renewing the commitment to raising awareness of shingles for the second year, jointly hosting Shingles Awareness Week (February 24 – March 2).
What is Shingles Awareness Week?
Shingles Awareness Week presents a critical opportunity to tackle the widespread lack of awareness, and have discursive conversations about the complications this disease can cause to people’s everyday lives. The theme for 2025 is ‘Our Shingles Stories’, making a personal connection and sharing real-life, personal stories, bringing together global partners, patients, and healthcare professionals across the healthy ageing, infectious disease prevention,
and adult immunisation therapy areas (vii)
The goal of Shingles Awareness Week is to bring together policymakers, older adults, and advocacy organisations to raise awareness of shingles, whilst highlighting the importance of immunisation as a key preventative measure for healthy ageing.
Call to Action on Shingles Vaccination Policy in the European Union
Despite proven efficacy of the shingles vaccination, the inclusion and funding of shingles vaccination within national immunisation programs (NIPs) varies broadly across the European Union. The International Federation on Ageing’s (IFA) recent study entitled Influencing Action on Shingles Vaccination Policy reviewed the policies and perceptions on shingles vaccination across 14 European countries. This project found that only 50% of countries studied included shingles within the NIP and only 28% provided comprehensive funding. No countries studied are currently providing publicly available shingles vaccine coverage rates, which limits the ability of evidence-informed policy changes to occur regarding the full value, use, and accessibility of shingles vaccines. There remain barriers to those who do seek out vaccination, the largest of which was found to be the out-of-pocket cost to patients. Sustained investment in population-wide immunisation programs is an effective way to improve vaccination access and uptake rates.
Therefore, the IFA is calling on policymakers, healthcare authorities, healthcare professionals and civil society organisations, to act on the following:
- Advocate for and prioritise the inclusion of Shingles vaccination within national immunisation programs, including the provision of funding to reduce barriers to access.
- Promote new surveillance methods that collect robust, age-disaggregated data on rates of shingles vaccination. Mobilising this data to better understand the cost/benefits of largescale vaccine campaigns and setting clear coverage targets.
- Develop and disseminate information that can help to increase the awareness of shingles, including the severity of shingles infection, and the increased risk it poses to adults aged 50 years and older as well as individuals who are immunocompromised.
- Improve and expand pathways to vaccination through non-traditional vaccinators such as pharmacists and nurses.
Given the substantial socioeconomic burden of shingles among older adults, and its grave impact on their overall well-being, there is an urgent and crucial need to prioritise shingles vaccination policy to ensure healthy ageing for current and future generations of older people.
Additional Resources
In 2024, SIP published ‘The Burden of Pain: A Societal Impact of Pain (SIP) Book of Evidence‘, targeted at individuals from a non-scientific background (e.g. policymakers and funding organisations) to gain insights into what pain is, understand different definitions used, and the debilitating effects pain has on patients and societies.
The document explains distinct types of pain conditions, how common they are, treatment approaches, and common co-occuring health problems, as well as crucial concepts and challenges in the pain field, including pain measurement and assessment. The document contains in-depth and clear accounts of post-herpetic neuralgia and its direct link to shingles.
Furthermore, SIP has published a set of detailed infographics describing the effects of pain and its impact on the lives of those who suffer from it. Check them out here.
