H.8. Round Table: EU’s evidence-informed approach to future-proof preparedness planning for health threats

Source abstract

Abstract Evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) is paramount for addressing the risks, prioritising investments in preparedness, and managing cross-border health threats effectively. EIDM is particularly vital in complex health crises where the societal impacts extend far beyond public health. Such crises require political, value-driven choices on the allocation of scarce resources – including deciding who should be protected first, which measures to implement, and at what cost. Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 on serious cross-border threats to health introduced several mechanisms to strengthen EIDM for health crises at EU/EEA level. This roundtable seeks to raise awareness of the EU’s specific arrangements for EIDM for health security while exploring how these frameworks are applied during crises. The session will begin by demonstrating how evidence – including lessons learned from simulation exercises – inform the EU’s comprehensive, complementary and continuously evolving framework for prevention, preparedness, and response planning. It will then examine the critical role of Public Health Risk Assessments, which evaluate the probability, impact, and response options to a threat, serving as a foundation for effective decision-making in crisis response. Finally, the discussion will introduce the Advisory Committee for Public Health Emergencies, a multidisciplinary expert group tasked with assessing emergencies and providing guidance on escalating response measures at EU level when necessary. After pitch talks, the experts will engage in a panel discussion exploring how EIDM helps to ensure that responses to serious cross-border health threats at the EU level remain effective, coordinated, proportionate, and fair. The audience will be actively encouraged to participate, offering comments and posing questions to deepen the discussion. As outcomes from the session, participants are expected to gain understanding of EIDM as an integral part of the EU health security framework. Key messages • Given the increasingly complex and evolving threat landscape, evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) has become essential for Member States and the EU to develop robust health security policies. • The Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 ensures that EIDM supports effective, coordinated, proportionate, and fair responses to serious cross-border threats to health across the EU/EEA. Speakers/Panellists Luka Delak Environmental Health, Croatian Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia Anja Schreijer Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands Emanuele Massaro Environment and Sustainability, European Environment Agency, København, Italy Tryggvi Oddsson Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health, Hveragerði, Iceland