Brussels, 12/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission announced its intention to support a project aimed at coordinating research in the field of medical emergency. The project covers the prevention and the management of crisis situations. There are a hundred million cases that fall into the category of medical emergencies each year within the European Union. The infrastructure used to face up to these events differs considerably from one country to another, and the fear created by threats of bio-terrorism and the appearance of new diseases (such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) shows that Europe must prepare itself to counter these dangers at international level. The HESCULAEP project (health emergency national regional programmes for improved coordination in pre-hospital setting) will contribute to the networking of national research programmes. It is financed within the context of the new ERA-NET system, which is part of the sixth framework programme.
The HESCULAEP project is coordinated by the French organisation, SAMU 92 ("Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris"), and brings together a consortium of 13 members including Health Ministers and agencies. The project may also count on the participation of emergency services and hospitals. International organisations with responsibility as far as medical emergency is concerned, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Red Cross/Red Crescent, also contribute by their experience to ERA-NET and assist the programme managers in their work. Participation by a series of players engaged in planning and service provision for medical emergencies should help the research programmes within the context of HESCULAEP to reach the highest degree of relevance for all members, taking into account the specific features of health and emergency service infrastructures in each Member State. The first aim of HESCULAEPE is to improve the overall management of medical emergency services in what will soon be a 25-member European Union, by ensuring the coherent and structured coordination of national research programmes. In the long term, the aim is to establish coordinated actions and transnational research programmes. Once this has been set in place, all Europeans may have the assurance that, in the event of a medical emergency, they may, wherever they are, be able to count on rapid and effective medical intervention services on sound scientific bases.