European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Encyclopedia
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an independent agency of the European Union
(EU) aimed at strengthening Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It was established in 2005 and is located in Solna
, Sweden
.
avian influenza arriving in the EU’s neighbourhood and the fear that it could adapt or mutate into a pandemic strain of human influenza – confirmed the relevance of its mission.
ECDC has established six cross-cutting programmes: Respiratory Tract Infections (Influenza
– Tuberculosis
); STI including HIV and blood-borne viruses; Vaccine Preventable Diseases; Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections; Food and Water-Borne Diseases and Zoonoses and Emerging and Vector-Borne Diseases.
In November 2010, ECDC published its fourth Annual Epidemiological Report on Communicable Disease in Europe (AER). The data presented show that EU citizens, in general, enjoy a high level of protection against infectious diseases. For some diseases further joint actions (e.g. through vaccination and similar control measures) could lead to the EU, and eventually Europe, being declared ‘free’ of the disease, as is the case for several vaccine preventable diseases.
This report presents the analysis of data reported for 2008 by the 27 EU Member States and three EEA/EFTA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The main aim of this report is to provide some indication, based on the available data, of where the main burden of communicable diseases now lies in the European Union.
, a European peer-reviewed journal devoted to the epidemiology, surveillance, prevention and control of infectious diseases, has been published by ECDC since March 2007. This partnership helps ensure results from ECDC and the EU-funded surveillance networks are rapidly reported to the scientific community. Eurosurveillance is an open access (i.e. free) web-based journal that reports infectious disease issues from a European perspective. The weekly bulletin and monthly journal have recently merged to a unique scientific journal. New issues are available online for free every Thursday. Eurosurveillance was previously a project shared between an editorial team based at both the Institut de Veille Sanitaire (France), and the Health Protection Agency (United Kingdom) since 1995 and financed by the European Commission.
The 27 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom;
And EEA Countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU) aimed at strengthening Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It was established in 2005 and is located in Solna
Solna Municipality
Solna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, located just north of the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the 'city' of Solna....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
History
As EU economic integration and open frontiers increased, cooperation on public health issues became more important. While the idea of creating a European CDC had been discussed previously by public health experts, the outbreak of SARS in 2003 and its rapid spread across countries confirmed the urgency of the creation of an EU-wide institution for public health. ECDC was set up in record time for an EU agency: the European Commission presented draft legislation in July 2003, by the spring of 2004 ECDC’s Founding Regulation had been passed and by the spring of 2005 the Centre started operating. As it started its activities, another threat – H5N1H5N1
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species...
avian influenza arriving in the EU’s neighbourhood and the fear that it could adapt or mutate into a pandemic strain of human influenza – confirmed the relevance of its mission.
Organisational Structure
The Centre changed its operational structure in 1 April 2011. Now, it operates in a matrix structure with four units. Seven Heads of Disease Programmes, in the Office of the Chief Scientist, will coordinate the existing disease programmes. They will draw on expertise from specialists in two shared resources units, the Surveillance and Response Support and the Public Health Capacity and Communication unit. In addition, a Resource Management and Coordination unit will provide administrative support and host cross-cutting coordination functions such as the Microbiology Coordination. Changes in the organisation were made following internal and external consultation and assessment of the functioning of the old structure. They are intended to enable us to enhance ECDC’s added value and contribution to improving the health of European citizens.ECDC has established six cross-cutting programmes: Respiratory Tract Infections (Influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
– Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
); STI including HIV and blood-borne viruses; Vaccine Preventable Diseases; Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections; Food and Water-Borne Diseases and Zoonoses and Emerging and Vector-Borne Diseases.
Publications
ECDC publishes scientific and technical reports on various issues related to communicable diseases prevention and control, including comprehensive reports from key technical and scientific meetings.In November 2010, ECDC published its fourth Annual Epidemiological Report on Communicable Disease in Europe (AER). The data presented show that EU citizens, in general, enjoy a high level of protection against infectious diseases. For some diseases further joint actions (e.g. through vaccination and similar control measures) could lead to the EU, and eventually Europe, being declared ‘free’ of the disease, as is the case for several vaccine preventable diseases.
This report presents the analysis of data reported for 2008 by the 27 EU Member States and three EEA/EFTA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The main aim of this report is to provide some indication, based on the available data, of where the main burden of communicable diseases now lies in the European Union.
Eurosurveillance
EurosurveillanceEurosurveillance
Eurosurveillance is an independent European scientific journal devoted to the epidemiology, surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases.Eurosurveillance is an open-access journal, free of charge both for readers and authors...
, a European peer-reviewed journal devoted to the epidemiology, surveillance, prevention and control of infectious diseases, has been published by ECDC since March 2007. This partnership helps ensure results from ECDC and the EU-funded surveillance networks are rapidly reported to the scientific community. Eurosurveillance is an open access (i.e. free) web-based journal that reports infectious disease issues from a European perspective. The weekly bulletin and monthly journal have recently merged to a unique scientific journal. New issues are available online for free every Thursday. Eurosurveillance was previously a project shared between an editorial team based at both the Institut de Veille Sanitaire (France), and the Health Protection Agency (United Kingdom) since 1995 and financed by the European Commission.
Member States
The ECDC’s network comprises the following member countries:The 27 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom;
And EEA Countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
Budget and staff
ECDC is set to have a staff of around 300 and an annual budget of over € 50 million by the end of the decade.See also
- Communicable diseases
- PandemicPandemicA pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
- Public healthPublic healthPublic health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
- EurosurveillanceEurosurveillanceEurosurveillance is an independent European scientific journal devoted to the epidemiology, surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases.Eurosurveillance is an open-access journal, free of charge both for readers and authors...
- European programme for intervention epidemiology training (EPIET)
- ESCAIDEESCAIDEThe is the annual conference of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control . ECDC is organizing the event in partnership with the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training , the EPIET Alumni network and TEPHINET EUROPE...
- Health Threat UnitHealth Threat Unit (European Commission)The Health Threat Unit of the Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection , is responsible for terrorism surveillance and early warning of biological, chemical, and radiological threats within the European Union...