Stockholm, 17 October, 2024
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan at a ceremony in Tokyo.
The formal partnership opens a direct line of communication between the two organisations and enables them to collaborate on both preparedness and rapid responses to global health crises.
The signing comes as ECDC continues its drive to enhance global collaboration to boost preparedness and better address serious cross-border health threats. Beyond existing agreements with the World Health Organisation and global centres for disease control at national and supranational levels, ECDC recently launched the EU Health Task Force, enabling it to deploy staff anywhere in the world to support national or regional outbreak response activities on the ground.
Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner, ECDC’s Director said:
Our world faces increasingly complex health threats. We must have robust international collaboration if we are to be prepared to face them. By focusing on partnerships such as this one with Japan, we lay the groundwork for a healthier, more resilient tomorrow.”
The MoC will see ECDC, The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and the soon-to-be-established Japan Institute for Health Security work closely on a range of action areas including epidemic intelligence, antimicrobial resistance, immunisation and vaccines, risk communication and training. It represents a strengthening of ECDC’s relationships in Asia that enable it to conduct more robust surveillance and access high-quality epidemiological data to support quick and efficient responses to emerging health threats.
Dr Manabu Sumi, Director-General, Department of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan said:
The world has faced the threat of pandemics. We have come to once again realize the importance of not only strengthening our domestic infectious disease measures and health care systems, but also the significance of international cooperation. The signing of this Memorandum of Cooperation is considered a significant step forward as it promotes collaboration between Japan and ECDC to address global health crises in the future. We believe this is a remarkable achievement.
The signing formalises a longstanding relationship between ECDC and Japanese public health authorities that has seen ECDC host a visiting scientist from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan who contributed to research on the burden of long COVID. Representatives from the NIID have also taken part in Global Health Security Initiative Early Alerting and Reporting meetings.
ECDC collaborates with centres for disease control beyond the EU at both regional and national levels as part of its long-term strategy to enhance international cooperation and coordination in addressing cross-border health threats. ECDC collaborates with the African, Caribbean, and Gulf supranational CDCs and has previously signed memoranda of understanding or administrative agreements with national centres around the world.
Background information
- For more information on ECDC’s international cooperation, click here.
- For more information about the EU Health Task Force, click here.
Source – ECDC