The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is establishing a network of laboratories, which starts its operations today. The network, called DURABLE, is funded with €25 million under the EU4Health programme. It will provide rapid and high-quality scientific information to support the EU in preparing for and responding to cross-border health threats and assessing the impact of medical countermeasures.
DURABLE will be coordinated by Institut Pasteur and include eighteen top-class laboratories within the EU. It will contribute to a swift, comprehensive, and effective testing, identification, and enhanced characterisation of pathogens that will inform the identification, development and purchase of appropriate medical countermeasures. DURABLE will complement existing networks, including those under the coordination of ECDC, to meet future challenges.
Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said: “When health threats emerge, it is crucial to act quickly to reduce risks of outbreaks and protect our citizens. The HERA laboratory network will reinforce the EU's capacity to collect and share data, better assess emerging health threats and identify effective medical countermeasures, while enhancing collaboration at EU and global level. Its entry into operation marks an important step in HERA's work in ensuring that the EU is better prepared to meet future health challenges.”
The establishment of the DURABLE network is an important step in HERA's work to make Europe better prepared to pandemic and other large-scale health threats.
DURABLE will promote data exchange and inform decision making at global level. This will support countries in their efforts towards meeting Sustainable Development Goal 3 on good health and well-being and other health-related targets and Sustainable Development Goals.
About HERA
The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HERA) department’s mission is to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to health emergencies. HERA, created in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, will anticipate threats and potential health crises, through intelligence gathering and building the necessary response capacities.
When an emergency hits, HERA will ensure the development, production and distribution of medicines, vaccines and other medical countermeasures – such as gloves and masks – that were often lacking during the first phase of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
HERA is a key pillar of the European Health Union. In her 2021 State of the Union addressSearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN••• President von der Leyen stressed that the European Commission is now delivering the need to fill a gap in the EU's health emergency response and preparedness by having an HERA authority up and running. [MORE]