Management Board Endorses Positive Evaluation The European Centre For Disease Prevention And Control

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 18 Nov 2008 - 4:00 PST

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The Management Board of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has endorsed an independent evaluation that found the Centre has established a "clear presence on the international stage" and made a "significant contribution" to fighting infectious diseases. The evaluation, carried out by the Dutch management consultancy ECORYS, was based on interviews with the Centre's key stakeholders and scrutiny of the Centre's activities. While endorsing ECORYS's positive findings on the achievements of ECDC, the Management Board's opinion contains further reflections on the issue of when, and under what conditions, the mandate of ECDC could be extended. The Management Board leaves open the possibility of ECDC taking on some new areas of responsibility from 2013 onwards, providing long term funding is available for the new activities. ECDC's Management Board meet in Paris on 13-14 November. As well as approving the Centre's Work Plan for 2009, it elected Dr. Hubert Hrabcik, Chief Medical Officer of Austria, as its Chairman and Professor Jacques Scheres, who represents the European Parliament on the Board, as Vice Chair for the period 2008-2010.

Dr. Hubert Hrabcik, newly elected Chairman of ECDC's Management Board said:

"There are two important conclusions from the evaluation. Firstly, that ECDC has done an excellent job. Secondly, that the EU Member States are satisfied with the work of ECDC"

Professor Jacques Scheres, newly elected Vice Chairman of ECDC's Management Board said:

"The key conclusion is that now we have a structure that is recognised by most authorities. It is there and it helps people. it's amazing that this has been achieved in just a few years."

Dr. Marc Sprenger, the outgoing Chairman of ECDC's Management Board, said:

"The Centre's most important achievement is that people really can trust ECDC. It is considered as an independent science based organisation, and it provides policy makers in the European Union with a lot of very important advice. The most important conclusion of the evaluation is that ECDC is making a difference. It really has an added value in the fight against infectious diseases."

Professor Meni Malliori, outgoing Vice Chair of the ECDC's Management Board said:

"ECDC has done an excellent job. It is an independent Centre which provides a lot of scientific advice for the Member States and European citizens. I think that to achieve such results during the short time ECDC has been operational is a very, very good start."

Dr. Andrzej Rys, Director of Public Health at the European Commission said:

"The conclusion of this evaluation can be summed up in one point: ECDC is working well and being effective."

A short video in which eight members of the Management Board give their personal opinions on the evaluation has been released by ECDC today. The members giving their comments are: Mrs. Iréne Nilsson- Carlsson (Sweden), Dr. Mojca Gruntar Cinc (Slovenia), Dr. Donato Greco (Italy), Dr. Hubert Hrabcik (Austria), Professor Meni Malliori (European Parliament representative), , Dr. Andrzej Rys (European Commission), Dr. Jacques Scheres (European Parliament representative) and Dr. Marc Sprenger (Netherlands).

See the video.

Commission adopts Communication on ECDC

Following the positive external evaluation of the Centre, the European Commission on 13 November adopted a Communication (policy paper) giving an update to the European Parliament and Council on how ECDC is currently operating, its achievements during its first three years and the resources it will need up until 2013.

The new Communication does not address the issue of expanding ECDC's mandate or changing its Founding Regulation (European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) 851/2004). These issues will be looked at by the Commission over the next year or so.

Any extension of ECDC's activities into areas beyond infectious diseases would require a change to its Founding Regulation. In order for this to happen draft legislation would need to be proposed by the Commission and then approved by both the European Parliament and Council of Ministers.

Background

ECDC is an EU agency with a mission to identify, assess and communicate threats to human health from infectious diseases. The Founding Regulation that created ECDC was passed by the European Parliament and Council in 2004 and the Centre became operational in May 2005.

Article 31 of CDC's Founding Regulation required that by 20 May 2007 ECDC commission an independent evaluation to assess the impact of the Centre on the prevention and control of human disease and the possible need to extend the scope of its mission beyond its current focus on infectious diseases. An open call for tender to conduct this evaluation was duly launched by ECDC ahead of the 2007 deadline. The Netherlands based management consultancy ECORYS won the tender and started work on the evaluation in the autumn of 2007. A committee drawn from ECDC's Management Board oversaw the evaluation and helped draft the Board's opinion on it.

DrDr. Hubert Hrabcik is Chief Medical Officer of Austria. Professor Jacques Scheres is Euregional Co-ordinator, University Hospital Maastricht azM and is one of the representatives to the Board nominated by the European Parliament.

Dr. Marc Sprenger is Director-General of the National Institute for Health and Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands. Meni Malliori is Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Athens and a former Member of the European Parliament. Dr. Sprenger and Professor Malliori were elected Chair and Vice Chair respectively on ECDC's Management Board at its inaugural meeting in September 2004. They were both re-elected for a further two year term in June 2006.

Further information

The full text of the External Evaluation, the Management Board's Conclusions and Recommendations based on the External Evaluation and the Commission's Communication can be seen here.

ECDC