EU health authority draws lessons from the corona pandemic

The EU health authority ECDC draws a number of insights from the ongoing corona pandemic.

To enable countries to better prepare for future pandemics or other emergencies, the Stockholm-based authority identified four areas where lessons can be learned from the Corona period. These include the benefits of investing in health workers, better preparedness for the next health crisis, risk communication and community involvement, and data collection and analysis, according to an ECDC report published Tuesday.

All these areas are closely linked, ECDC stressed. As the pandemic moves into a phase of reduced intensity, the report aims to highlight follow-up actions that could help improve pandemic preparedness in Europe.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us valuable lessons and it is important to review and evaluate our actions to determine what has worked and what has not,” said Andrea Ammon, Director of ECDC Germany. There is a need to better prepare for future health crises, for example by strengthening health personnel, better monitoring infectious diseases and promoting cooperation between organisations, countries and regions.

The Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus reached Europe in early 2020 and then spread rapidly. Numerous countries initially responded with significant restrictions on public life and closing their borders. Thanks to the record-breaking development of corona vaccines, the virus could eventually be largely reduced in 2022.

(yam/sda/dpa)