The building blocks of the European Health Union are officially in place, a press release by the European Commission says, adding that this not only includes stronger EU rules on serious cross-border threats to health, but also a stronger mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and a new Emergency Framework for medical countermeasures.
Taken together with an extended mandate of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the establishment of the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), the EU now has the tools necessary to prepare for and better respond in the event of a public health emergency, it adds.
Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety has said that two years after we put forward our vision for a strong European Health Union, today it becomes a reality.
“COVID showed what we can achieve when we work together as a Union, and now we have the tools necessary to chart a new course for EU health preparedness and response. Rapid and decisive action as a Union is our strongest tool to protect our citizens from health threats, and we need strong and permanent mechanisms to do so” she added.
Source: Cyprus News Agency