Is Europe Prepared For 'Flu?

Main Category: Flu / Cold / SARS
Also Included In: Public Health;  Conferences
Article Date: 04 Sep 2010 - 1:00 PDT

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The results of a three-year research project into pandemic flu preparedness in Europe will be launched at a meeting in Brussels in September.

The results of the PHLawFlu (Public Health Law Flu) conference, Pandemic Influenza Preparedness in Europe: Are National Public Health Laws Fit for Purpose? will be presented by Professor Richard Coker, Professor of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) on 23 September at the European Parliament in Brussels.

This conference is co-organised by LSHTM and the University of Hertfordshire, in collaboration with three other European universities.

In addition to presenting these findings, leading law and medical academics from across Europe will debate the implications of the findings for states within Europe and for European pandemic disease strategies, highlighting:

-- Reactions to the PHLawFlu report

-- Implications for national, European and cross-border disease control

-- Implications for human rights

Professor Coker comments, "The spectre of a serious pandemic persists. SARS and H1N1 have, in a sense, been dry runs for a serious pandemic. They have allowed us to reflect on whether we're prepared. Since the 19th century, laws have been the foundation upon which public health responses to emergent challenges have been grounded. But across Europe, our research shows, national inconsistencies threaten a regionally coherent approach to pandemics."

Sources: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), AlphaGalileo Foundation.

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