HEALTH IN A
HEALTH IN A POST-PANDEMIC EU “It’s not just about slogans” A candid talk with ECDC chief Andrea Ammon about communicating in times of crisis, and how to build trust when things calm down. BY ALEJANDRO TAUBER European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) chief Andrea Ammon spoke candidly about how her organisation is preparing itself to help the EU be prepared for the next pandemic. Ammon has been heading up the ECDC since 2017. Trained as a medical doctor, and specialised in public health, she is an alumni of the first cohort of the field epidemiology programme (EPIET) offered by the ECDC. She joined the organisation in 2005, building the European surveillance system, and slowly making her way to the top job. The ECDC was thrust in the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then has seen its mandate expand through new regulations. Our conversation ended up revolving around communication, and what both the ECDC and the media could do better in – hopefully not anytime soon – a next pandemic. Alejandro Tauber: I’d like to briefly talk about new regulations and changes to the ECDC mandate. Can you run me through some of the policy changes we’ve seen since the pandemic? Andrea Ammon: The serious cross border health threat regulation aims at regulating all the different elements connected to health emergencies. That starts with the surveillance, the laboratories, but then also the response to emergencies. So that’s the risk assessment and risk management package. Now, our regulation is tailored for the ECDC, and it has a lot of cross references to the serious cross border health regulation. So a lot of what is in the serious cross border health regulation actually refers to 27
