8.B. Workshop: Fit for purpose surveillance - strategies to implement effective surveillance systems in EU/EEA countries under the new Serious Cross Border Health Threats Regulation (2022/2371)

BACKGROUND: As part of the European Health Union package, the EU Regulation 2022/2371 on serious cross-border threats to health has entered into force on 26 December 2022. Chapter III (Articles 13-17) of this Regulation provide new provisions for Epidemiological surveillance, the Digital platform for surveillance, and EU reference laboratories. METHODS: Several Implementing Acts are currently in preparation, which will define in more detail the concrete implementation of these provisions, such as the list of communicable diseases, case definitions, procedures for the operation of the epidemiological network for epidemiological surveillance, the specifications of the digital platform for surveillance and its specific rules for functioning, as well as to designate EU reference laboratories. Via the EU4Health Programme, the European Commission is furthermore providing funding for Integrated Surveillance, Surveillance capacity building RESULTS: The workshop will inform on the current state of implementation, on the results of the preparatory works carried out so far as well as on an outlook to the short and longer term plans for the implementation of the regulation on serious cross-border threats to health. Furthermore, it will inform on a funding mechanism for the improvement of EU Surveillance Systems as one of the central lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic and showcase a good national practice. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly illustrated that the creation and further development of sound, reliable, integrated and real-time digital surveillance systems are a very crucial component for preparedness against serious cross border health threats. The current work under the new regulation is a valuable opportunity for public health practitioners to improve surveillance at EU, national and regional level. The workshop will host panel presentations followed by a round-table discussion.