Brussels, 20/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The conclusions of the EU 15 Health Ministers on bioterrorism (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.13) encourage the European Commission to continue the efforts it has undertaken since 11 September to increase the level of readiness and the response capability of the EU to possible attacks with chemical, nuclear or biological arms. During a technical briefing on the Communities actions in the field of health and civil protection, the Commission brought the following details to the press.
In the health sector, the Commission concentrates its efforts, in co-ordination with the Member States, on the fields where the Union has added value, namely: - the co-ordination of the assessment of collective needs on the basis of the Member States' expertise, - the enhancement and the development of rapid response capabilities; - the updating of the analysis capabilities, notably monitoring, laboratories and warning systems; - the development of a clear communication by the government authorities with the citizens; - the improvement of the training for frontline staff: general practitioners, veterinarians and pharmacists; - preparation for the sharing of logistical costs (storage, equipment); - the co-ordination of international cooperation with partner organisations and countries, such as the WHO.
Bioterrorist attacks being silent and difficult to detect, the talks between the Commission and the representatives from each Member State that form the high-level consultative committee recently created are concentrated on the rapid response capability to infectious disease. The aim is to considerably enhance the precursor network for epidemiological monitoring and surveillance of transmissible diseases instituted in the Union in 1998 and operational since 1999 (it already includes a early warning system enabling, through immediate electronic contacts between Member States, the rapid detection of around forty diseases: illnesses that have vaccines, sexually transmissible diseases, viral hepatitis, food and water borne diseases, and environmental diseases) and to cover it through a crisis network. In order to do this it is required to survey high security laboratories that could carry out the analysis of samples to identify infectious agents, and to establish clinical investigation teams. Commissioner for Health David Byrne called on the Health Ministers to designate, in order to do this, the national experts whose skills may be of value (epidemiologists, microbiologists, toxicologists, etc.).
The assessment of existing therapeutic needs has begun during a meeting with Commissioners Byrne and Liikanen (13 November, Strasbourg), the pharmaceutical industry stated its readiness to establish a task force and to collaborate with the Commission in order to establish a strategy guaranteeing that the capabilities to produce medicines and emergency supply mechanisms are established. The Commission and industry have also discussed suitable methods for guaranteeing a co-ordinated approach for the monitoring of vaccines. For anthrax, antibiotics are sufficiently available, but for smallpox, the stocks of vaccine are limited. Thus, it is necessary to determine the quantity necessary to produce by targeting the personnel most exposed to a threat of smallpox attack, and to examine the possibilities of developing a new generation of vaccines with fewer side effects than the first.
The Commission is also working towards the creation of interfaces with the existing early warning networks for contaminated foods or dangerous products.
In terms of civil protection, the Member States national experts, urgently gathered on 12 October, approved their action plan (see EUROPE of 13 October, p.7) through which they anticipate, since 1 November, the implementation of the enhanced cooperation mechanism allowing to mutually inform each other on the means to gain access to information available on nuclear, biological and chemical risks, as well as medical resources.
An operational information and follow-up unit has been established in the Commission with the help of three Member States (France, Sweden and Belgium), which have made available personnel from their national operational centres.
A workshop gathering together health and civil protection experts should be organised after the Laeken summit in view of enhancing co-ordination between the various networks in view of optimising their effectiveness.