Abstract
The 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa challenged traditional international mechanisms for public health team mobilisation to control outbreaks. Consequently, in February 2016, the European Union (EU) launched the European Medical Corps (EMC), a mechanism developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to rapidly deploy teams and equipment in response to public health emergencies inside and outside the EU. Public Health Teams (PHTs), a component of the EMC, consist of experts in communicable disease prevention and control from participating countries and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), to support affected countries and WHO in risk assessment and outbreak response. The European Commission’s Directorate-General European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations and Directorate-General Health and Food Safety, and ECDC, plan and support deployments. The first EMC-PHT deployment took place in May 2016, with a team sent to Angola for a yellow fever outbreak. The aims were to evaluate transmission risks to local populations and EU citizens in Angola, the risk of regional spread and importation into the EU, and to advise Angolan and EU authorities on control measures. International actors should gain awareness of the EMC, its response capacities and the means for requesting assistance.
Highlights
The 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa challenged traditional international mechanisms for public health team mobilisation to control outbreaks
The mechanism to deploy Public Health Teams (PHTs) follows the approach set up for deploying EU Civil Protection Mechanism (EUCPM) teams, and gives the European Commission, including its various services that are interested in a specific mission, e.g. DG International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) and DG Research and Innovation (RTD) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) the role of shaping the mission and including competent public health bodies within participating countries in the planning of the mission
The new mechanism demonstrated the ability to rapidly deploy public health experts selected for the objectives and context of the mission
Summary
ECDC: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; EMC: European Medical Corps; ERCC: Emergency Response Coordination Centre; EU: European Union; IHR: International Health Regulations; MoH: Ministry of Health; PHT: Public Health Team; RRA: Rapid Risk Assessment; WHO: World Health Organization. Field visits in Luanda and two other provinces (Huambo and Huila) included visits to healthcare facilities (hospitals, primary care centres), provincial and municipal health authorities, public health activities (vaccination campaigns, risk communication, vector control) and the international airport of Luanda (Figure 3). The findings from the mission were reflected in the first update of the ECDC rapid risk assessment on the outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola, DRC and Uganda [17]. The mission report included recommendations on a wide field of topics such as surveillance, clinical management of suspected yellow fever cases, laboratory capacities, vaccination campaigns, vector-control activities and travel-related measures
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