Press release
Chief Medical Officer marks 50 years of European collaboration and looks to stronger future of the European Union
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
Chief Medical Officer Prof. Breda Smyth has today marked 50 years of Ireland’s EU membership and highlighted the importance of strengthened European collaboration in improving Ireland’s preparedness to face future cross-border health threats.
The CMO was hosting the event ‘A European Health Union for the future – Preparing for the Next Cross-Border Health Emergency’ in Dublin alongside European public health leaders including Pierre Delsaux, Director General of the newly-established EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (DG HERA); Emer Cooke, Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA); and Dr Andrea Ammon, Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The CMO highlighted how Ireland’s close collaboration with the European Union is playing a critical role in our effective response to COVID-19, in particular the EU’s roles in supporting procurement of vaccines and therapeutics, as well as supporting surveillance and monitoring of the virus. She also noted the efforts currently underway to increase the EU’s emergency preparedness activities, through strengthening the European Medicines Agency and the European Centre for Disease Control and launching the new European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (DG HERA). These measures are already paying dividends for Ireland by improving our ability to respond to threats from Monkeypox, Ebola and public health risks from the conflict in Ukraine.
Following the event, Minister Donnelly and the Chief Medical Officer Prof Breda Smyth also welcomed an official delegation from DG HERA on a formal visit to Ireland. The Minister highlighted how HERA’s role in securing availability of medical countermeasures to Member States in the event of future public health crises will be essential in ensuring smaller Member States have the resources to combat future cross-border health threats.
Minister Donnelly said:
"Ireland’s close collaboration with the European Union played a critical role in our effective response to COVID-19. As we celebrate 50 years of Ireland’s EU membership, now is a vital moment to reflect, to look to the future of our collaboration with Europe and to bolster our emergency preparedness. I look forward to working closely with Europe to strengthen our ability to respond to the next global public health threat."
Minister Coveney said:
"Over the course of 2022 and 2023 Ireland will mark the milestones that led us into the European Union with reflection, discussion and celebration. It will be an occasion to consider the remarkable progress we, as a nation, have made and the progress we, as a Union, must make in order to make the next 50 years as successful as the last."
HERA Director General Pierre Delsaux said:
"The European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, HERA, was created to ensure better preparedness and fast response to health crises. HERA, working closely with Ireland and all Member States, is committed to providing a strategic EU approach to the early identification of health threats, and development, production, procurement and distribution of essential medical countermeasures. We are preparing our continent for future health emergencies and reinforcing global health security."
The Irish Department of Health hosted this event as part of the "EU50" series, in conjunction with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.
The government’s EU50 programme is marking Ireland’s 50 years of EU membership since our decision to join the EEC in 1972. Government departments, State agencies, second and third-level institutions, civil society groups, industry, cultural institutions and our Mission network have all been encouraged to get involved. For more information see: ireland.ie/en/eu50/
This event took place in the context of a visit to Ireland by a delegation from the EU’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (DG HERA) from 23 to 25 November. A series of bilateral engagements between senior Irish public health officials and DG HERA delegates will be scheduled around the main public event.
The EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) was established in 2021 with the aim of ensuring that the EU and Member States are better prepared to act in the face of future cross-border health crises, by supporting the rapid development, manufacturing, procurement, and equitable distribution of key medical countermeasures. The development of HERA is part of a package of emergency preparedness measures under the ‘European Health Union’ programme, which aim to strengthen the EU’s health emergency response capacity. This package also includes new regulations on serious cross-border threats to health, and regulations to extend the mandates of the EMA and ECDC.
Ireland is represented alongside other Member States by the Department of Health and its agencies on the HERA Advisory Board, the Management Board of ECDC and the Management Board of EMA.