UKHSA signs memorandum of understanding with ECDC
On 1 December, Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of UKHSA, signed a memorandum of understanding with Andrea Ammon, Director of European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed to strengthen the collaboration between the 2 agencies on matters of communicable diseases prevention and control.
The areas of mutual interest for cooperation under this MoU include:
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epidemic intelligence – sharing information rapidly, particularly in the event of a public health emergency
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health risk assessments
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laboratory capacity-building and enhancement to detect and respond to emerging disease threats of global health importance
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antimicrobial resistance
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healthcare-associated infections
Dr Jenny Harries said:
I am pleased to sign this agreement with Director Ammon today. This MoU demonstrates UKHSA’s ongoing commitment, on behalf of the UK, to the closest possible collaboration with ECDC.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, communicable diseases do not respect borders. UKHSA firmly believes that health security collaboration with our international partners is imperative to protect all our citizens.
Andrea Ammon, ECDC Director, said:
I welcome this agreement with the United Kingdom and I am committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with UKHSA. Any infectious disease that might affect the European Union can also target the UK and vice versa – therefore, both myself and Chief Executive Harries recognise that exchanging knowledge and expertise is paramount.
By signing this MoU, we are continuing our work to strengthen international cooperation. ECDC has already made tremendous progress in this regard by signing agreements with the US CDC, Chinese CDC, Public Health Agency of Canada, the Israel CDC, the Ministry of Health of Mexico, and recently by partnering with the South Korean CDC and Africa CDC.
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