title: Roles and functions of a European Union Public Health Centre for Communicable Diseases and other threats to health.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Van Loock
authors.forename: O N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wallyn
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nicoll
authors.forename: J-C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Desenclos
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leinikki
mesh_terms: D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D005062:European Union; D011635:Public Health Administration