Brussels, 29/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has adopted two new communications aiming to help the European Union and its Member States to face up to major cross-border health crises (such as SARS and bioterrorism) and a possible flu pandemic.
The first communication seeks to reinforce Europe's coordinated reaction capacity for public health emergencies, such as the outbreaks of SARS in Asia and the anthrax attacks carried out in the United States. This document proposes a broader strategy, stressing the importance of preparation in case of all kinds of health care crises- be these anticipated threats, such as a pandemic of flu, or unexpected threats, such as a similar outbreak of SARS. It aims to help the Member States to establish general planning on preparing for such situations, detailing the essential elements of these plans, whilst encouraging the most coordinated approach possible. The document takes the view that the organisation of other simulation exercises and peer examinations of national plans are priority tasks for the future.
The second communication on the preparation planning in Europe in case of a flu pandemic updates the plan developed by the European Commission as of March 2004. Each takes account of recent developments, such as revised WHO definitions of pandemic phases and the opening of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In particular, it lays down a proposed Union response for each of the phases of a flu pandemic as defined by the World Health Organisation, and specifies the responsibilities of the Member States, the Commission and European agencies, in case of a flu pandemic.
The operational part of the communication provides the details, for each of the six pandemic phases identified by the WHO, of the action to be taken in terms of: -planning and coordination: the respective roles of the WHO, the Commission, the ECDC and the Member States are defined; -evaluation and monitoring- the Member States are obliged to transmit the information, to carry out consultations and to provide coordination for the EU early warning and rapid reaction system; -prevention and containment: measures such as the use of antiviral drugs and the development and use of vaccines, together with other health-care system responses; communication: between the Member States and the European Union, and the provision of precise and concordant information to the general public.
One key message of both communications is the need to extend emergency planning beyond the healthcare sector, to include such aspects as civil protection, transport, communications, the emergency services, investment in laboratories and international relations.
The ability of the Union and its Member States to react in a coordinated way to a flu pandemic was tested out in a simulation exercise at European level on 23 and 24 November. An evaluation of this exercise is to be carried out by ECDC experts, who will draw up a report to be submitted by February 2006, the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Markos Kyprianou, announced at a press release. He will present the preliminary results of this exercise to the healthcare ministers at the meeting of the Council in Brussels on 9 December. In the meantime, he pointed out that we are still in the early stages of this preparation, during which the intention is to "identify and correct all weaknesses". "It was not a competition", he added, so to avoid individual questions on the state of preparedness of any individual Member States. "I do not have this information myself", the Commissioner repeated, having been inundated by questions from journalists about national performances. When asked about the exercise scenario, he was unable to give a detailed reply, but he did state that they had looked at the "worst possible scenario" imaginable. The coordination between the Member States and with the Commission is said to have worked well, as did the coordination between the early warning system, the ECDC and the WHO, according to the Commissioner, although he did acknowledge the need for a certain amount of clarification, particularly in terms of coordination between the services of the Commission (he referred specifically to transport and research).
On Tuesday, Markos Kyprianou met representatives of vaccine producers, and is also to report back to the health ministers on the results of these discussions, which showed that industry is expecting "clear commitments" on the part of the Member States on public-private partnerships, which the Commission is trying to set in place. Essentially, industry expects assistance with developing prototype vaccines and commitments on seasonal vaccinations if it is to increase its production capacity for vaccines.