Learning lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, EPHA joins a range of health organisations (representing patients, healthcare professionals and medical societies, industry, public institutes and broader health advocacy groups) to call on the EU Council to extend the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Coordination and Control (ECDC) to other areas of public health.
The organisations believe that extending the ECDC’s mandate will help prevent and control communicable and non-communicable diseases and act as an inclusive focal point for national health authorities, policymakers as well as healthcare professionals and the broader medical and scientific community, to better tackle health inequalities and ensure an integrated approach to future health challenges and threats.
In a letter published today, ahead of a Council Working Party on pharmaceuticals and medical devices that will discuss the Commission’s proposal to strengthen the Agency, organisations representing patients, healthcare professionals and medical societies, industry, public institutes and broader health advocacy groups are calling on the Council to consider the expansion of the mandate of the ECDC to other areas of public health that are linked to the current mission of the Centre, particularly the the interconnections between communicable and non-communicable diseases.
The aim to “build back better” from COVID-19 offers a unique opportunity to break down siloes not only between different medical disciplines but also across the EU and between the EU and national governments to ensure better health for all Europeans.
