The Covid-19 pandemic prompted the European Union to organise structural responses in terms of prevention and response to health emergencies. The first report on health preparedness, published on 30 November 2022, emphasised medical countermeasures.
In 2021, the establishment of the Health Emergency and Response Authority – HERA – allowed achieving structural results in health preparedness, including detection, prevention, research, cooperation, investment and fight against disinformation.
The HERA was created to have a permanent and structured approach to planning interventions at the EU level. It represents a pillar towards the creation of a European Health Union.
Regarding the goals for the upcoming year, the report outlines four key actions to fight against the three priority threats identified in July 2022, such as pathogens with pandemic potential, CBRN threats (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threats:
- The development of medical countermeasures such as:
- The establishment of the HERA INVEST, with a budget of 100 MEUR to support innovative and strategic projects in support of cross-border health threats
- The investment of up to 80 MEUR in COVID-19 vaccine 2.0 projects, to find promising new technologies that can also be used for other diseases
- HERA will develop the Medical Countermeasures Intelligence Platform (MCMI), which through intelligence gathering and threat assessment will enable a link between threat detection and the accessibility of medical countermeasures in the EU,
- The strengthening of EU FAB tools, to facilitate production capacity and resilient supply chains, to facilitate member states’ access to medical countermeasures,
- International coordination and global collaboration, through EU strategic partnerships with third countries, put the EU at the centre of a global health strategy.
More details at this LINK
