Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

News - 02/07/2010 By sebastien.vermast

The conference on “Lessons learned from the influenza pandemic A(H1N1)2009” held on 1 and 2 July 2010 in Brussels, has generated a discussion with senior officials of European Union Member States and other invited countries, relevant international organizations such as the World Health Organization, European Agencies such as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicine Agency. The conference was jointly organized by the Belgian Presidency and the European Commission.

Commissioner John Dalli in charge of Health & Consumer Policy said : "The H1N1 pandemic has tested our structures and capacity to handle a health threat in Europe. The time has now come to build on lessons learnt and reflect on how to respond to a pandemic more thoroughly and efficiently. I welcome the conference organized with the Belgian presidency and look forward to fruitful exchanges with Member States and stakeholders. I believe we must prepare for the worse and hope for the best".

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of Health Policy, Laurette Onkelinx said: "At a European level – we have to confess –, we have to improve in terms of cohesion and coordination. All Member States managed the pandemic, with the different means they had at their disposal. As the virus was far less virulent than expected, we have limited its impact, but without the necessary cohesion between Member States. Therefore, it is important to me that our first Informal Meeting of the health ministers evaluates the way the influenza pandemic was managed. I am convinced that the conclusions of the conference of 1st and 2nd July will be very important for the preparation of the discussions of the Informal meeting, and very useful to improve a coordinated European response to a pandemic. we have to analyze - objectively and with a critical eye - the national and European and WHO instruments that have been mobilized. Some of the measures taken have shown their effectiveness. Others will have to be completely reviewed."

More than 300 participants, including senior experts on surveillance, on health security, vaccine regulatory procedures, decision takers for implementation of health measures, representatives from the other sectors, and communicators from all EU member states and candidate countries have actively contributed to the outcome of the meeting.

Early assessment, epidemiological surveillance, multi-sectorial collaboration and economic impact and medical measures, including use of antiviral medication and vaccines, were analysed, as well as information management and communication to citizens and stakeholders. During the debate special attention was given to the possibilities to minimize the uncertainty, especially at the onset of a pandemic, on the severity of the virus and the affected population groups and to need for better coordination of implementation of strategies on use of antiviral medication and vaccines.

Additionally, the preparedness of various sectors and the collaboration between different business sectors was discussed with a view to increase collaboration between sectors and to minimize economic impact of a health crisis.
Finally, a parallel session was organised to discuss the communication to citizens and professionals, but also to analyze possibilities for more active involvement of stakeholders and use of new media.

The conclusions of the conference will serve as a basis for the discussion at the informal meeting of Minister of Health next week on 5 and 6 July. They will analyze the possible review of the European pandemic preparedness plan in light of the lessons learned.

Contact :

Saar Vanderplaetsen
Spokesperson to the Minister of Public Health  L. Onkelinx
+32 (0)479 86 52 48

Frédéric Vincent
Spokesperson Health & Consumer Policy
European Commission
+32 (0)2 298 71 66