Sat. Feb 22nd, 2025

Stockholm, 4 February 2025

Representatives from EU/EEA Member States, EU agencies, the European Commission, WHO, GOARN, MSF, and IFRC gathered for the second EU Health Task Force (EUHTF) stakeholder meeting. The aim was to build awareness and foster engagement among Member States. Key discussions covered EUHTF processes, priorities, and collaboration. Since its establishment in 2023, the EUHTF has responded to 19 activation requests, supporting preparedness and emergency response efforts. Priorities for 2025 include expanding the External Expert Pool and enhancing community engagement.

The second EU Health Task Force (EUHTF) stakeholder meeting gathered representatives from EU/EEA Member States, EU agencies, the European Commission, and partner organisations including the World Health Organization (WHO), Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). 

The purpose of the meeting was to build awareness around the EUHTF as a newly established mechanism and generate engagement and ownership among Member States. The meeting facilitated communication and networking between the ECDC Coordination Team of the EUHTF, its governance bodies, Member State counterparts and other stakeholders, and provided the opportunity to discuss the development of EUHTF processes, priorities and options for collaboration. 

There have been many developments in establishing and operating the EUHTF since the last stakeholder meeting in January 2024 (First EU Health Task Force Annual Meeting). The fundamentals of the EUHTF are now in place, including its administrative decision, advisory bodies and expert pools. 

Since its establishment in 2023, the EUHTF has accepted 19 requests for activation, originating from 11 EU/EEA and four non-EU/EEA countries. In fulfilling the requests, the EUHTF has engaged 25 experts remotely and deployed 15 individuals. The EUHTF has worked with EU/EEA Member States who requested partnership in the field of preparedness including epidemic intelligence for mass gathering events, after-action reviews, training for outbreak detection and investigation, a multi-country outbreak-related research study, amongst others. The EUHTF has engaged in deployments out of the EU, supporting WHO, Africa CDC and other national and international organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East countries for mpox epidemics, Marburg virus disease outbreaks and infectious disease events associated with the escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

The EUHTF continues to build its mechanism of action with the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, the Directorate-General for International Partnerships, and WHO-GOARN, to establish the EUHTF as a collaborative body, working closely with the other major European and global public health actors. 

The process to request activation of the EUHTF and EUHTF Expert Pools is now in place. The EUHTF Expert Pools include the ECDC Expert Pool, the ECDC Fellowship Pool and a pilot version of the External Expert Pool. Updates on legal aspects of the EUHTF were discussed, including a code of conduct and terms of engagement for experts providing support to the EUHTF. The Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety provided updates regarding the Implementing Act for mobilising the Enhanced Emergency Capacity of the EUHTF, which represents an activation of the full extent of the EUHTF Expert Pools, to support a coordinated response after the declaration of a public health emergency at EU-level.

Participants engaged in active discussions and provided input to further strengthen the EUHTF, including insights into Member State perspective and priorities. Member State participants suggested that assignments related to preparedness activities would be most requested, e.g. implementation of action plans following PHEPA assessments, while response related assignments would be of added value for new or emerging infectious disease as well as cross-border outbreaks. Participants also suggested on ways the EUHTF can engage with and raise awareness among Member States. Advice included to pro-actively contact Member States during crises and ensure they remained updated on developments and ongoing assignments of the EUHTF, and consider establishing Operational Contact Points (OCPs) for the EUHTF. 

Priorities for the coming year were presented to participants. During 2025 the EUHTF will invest in efforts to expand the External Expert Pool and include its members in a community of practice. The ECDC Coordination Team will continue to host webinars, annual stakeholder meetings and trainings, and will work closely with the EUHTF Advisory Group for continual improvement of EUHTF operations.

Source – ECDC

 

Forward to your friends