Roles and functions of a European Union Public Health Centre for Communicable Diseases and other threats to health.
An international consensus has been reached that a European Union (EU) Technical Coordination Structure (TCS) for communicable diseases is needed to improve Europe s future response to international communicable disease threats within and beyond its boundaries. After the American events of September 11 2001 and the deliberate releases of anthrax, the EU created a Health Security Committee, adopted a civil protection decision, and established for 18 months a team to develop responses for deliberate releases of biological and chemical agents. These two initiatives, the network s approach and health security work, must converge into a single stream addressing health protection for the people of Europe. They could be combined into a European Centre for Communicable Diseases that is planned to become active by 2005.
Van Loock
F
F
Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium.
Gill
O N
ON
Wallyn
S
S
Nicoll
A
A
Desenclos
J-C
JC
Leinikki
P
P
D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D005062:European Union; D011635:Public Health Administration