In order to better anticipate and respond to threats posed by infectious diseases, the European Parliament extended the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Established in 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden, ECDC employs almost 300 members and works in partnership with national and international public health bodies in Europe and outside Europe. The Director of ECDC is Dr Andrea Ammon, elected in 2017. ECDC coordinates the European network of bodies and experts in order to develop and improve surveillance of disease and early warning systems.
Within the framework of its competences, the ECDC is in charge of:
- Collecting, analysing and interpreting relevant data;
- acting as an advisor providing scientific opinions, input and guidance, including trainings in the field of public health;
- ensuring the preparedness and early detection of possible threats for public health such as outbreaks of disease, and
- sharing relevant information and expertise with European bodies and international institutions.
Furthermore, following its latest mandate the European Parliament also adopted a series of measures that will reinforce the coordination between the Commission and EU agencies that include:
- cooperation among EU bodies and countries during public health crises;
- response planning at EU and national levels, and
- guidelines for joint acquisition and distribution of medicines and medical devices.
References
ECDC European Union. Available at: https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institutions-and-bodies/institutions-and-bodies-profiles/ecdc_en (Accessed: October 11, 2022).
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Homepage | European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Available at: http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/ (Accessed: October 11, 2022).
A European Health Union requires a stronger European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. FEAM. Available at: https://www.feam.eu/a-european-health-union-requires-a-stronger-european-centre-for-disease-prevention-and-control/ (Accessed: October 11, 2022).
Written by:
Sofia Bertini
Born in Italy in 1996 and always surrounded by a great variety of cultures and languages, Sofia Bertini holds a Master’s degree in Modern Languages for International Communication and Cooperation at the University of Padua, majoring in English and French language in 2021. Constantly enjoyed integrating into international communities, both during an AFS exchange program in the USA and Erasmus Program in Paris at the Sorbonne University, her interests mainly focus on terminology and specialized translation. Passionate about justice and European Union Law matter, she graduated with a Master’s thesis on the terminology of global terrorism based on FAIRterm, a free tool for the compilation of multilingual terminological records.
Laia Pérez Picó
Born in Alicante, Spain, Laia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting. She had the opportunity to study abroad in Canada and France thanks to different mobility programs. She also holds a Master’s degree in Institutional Translation at the University of Alicante and a second Master’s degree in Translation Technologies with an specialisation in Terminology at the University of Geneva.