Brussels, 15/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Medical Corps, a new crisis management instrument adopted by the European Union in the framework of its civil protection system, was launched in Brussels on Monday 15 February, in the premises of the Commission (Berlaymont).
In the event of future health crises, this European Corps will allow the rapid deployment of medical teams and equipment, within the EU and in third countries. This is an innovation which was directly inspired by the lessons learned from the Ebola crisis in West Africa and the creation of which the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management announced just one month ago (see EUROPE 11468).
On the basis of needs and of the resources made available by the participating European countries, the European Medical Corps may include emergency medicine personnel teams, sanitary and medical coordination experts, mobile bio-security laboratories, aircraft to evacuate individuals and logistical support teams.
“The aim of the European Medical Corps is to create a much faster and more efficient EU response to health crises when they occur. I thank all the member states that have already contributed so far, and encourage others to join so the EU's response will be able to meet increasing needs and allow for better planning and preparation before any disaster”, said Christos Stylianides in a press release.
His colleague for Health, Vytenis Andriukaitis, noted that “globalisation, intensive travelling, global warming and billions of people living in poverty without healthcare, sanitation or hygiene fosters conditions for viruses to spread and develop into pandemics”. Hence the need, in order to tackle the situation, to mobilise “multi-sector teams with good skills and working together on the ground”.
The European Medical Corps is part of the new emergency reaction capacity (or pool of 'volunteers') of the EU's civil protection mechanism, in which several member states have already participated (Germany, Belgium, Spain, Finland, France, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Netherlands). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)