Council adopts proposal for new European health agency
Following the European Parliament's vote in February, the Council of Ministers agreed, on 31 March, to the creation of a new European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The new agency will pull together, at European level, the medical expertise which already exist at national level, and facilitate coordination between the Member States' health institutes. 'I am very pleased that we have all been able to move forward quickly to provide European citizens with better protection for any future epidemics. The lessons we learned during the outbreaks of SARS in 2003 and bird flu this year have been acted upon. Infectious diseases can pose a deadly threat - and they do not respect national borders,' said David Byrne the EU's Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner. 'This new EU agency will enable Europe to be better prepared for future epidemics. The fact that this legislation was agreed in record time of just eight months shows that we in Europe can act quickly and effectively when called on. There is strength in unity.' The Centre, which will be based in Stockholm, Sweden, should be operational by 2005.
Kraje
Sweden