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European Union Health Task Force (EUHTF)

Functions of the EU Health Task Force 

The EUHTF will support EU/EEA countries, other partner countries and international organisations in the following areas. 

Timely emergency response during outbreaks and crises related to communicable diseases or diseases of unknown origin including:

  • ​remote support and rapid in-country field deployment,
  • support for outbreak investigations and response,
  • provision of science-based recommendations,
  • support for operational research and
  • provision of guidance, protocols, resources, and tools.

Strengthening countries' emergency preparedness including:

  • development, testing and updating of preparedness protocols and plans,
  • assessment of preparedness gaps through self-assessments and external evaluation of country preparedness and response planning,
  • simulation exercises,
  • in-and-after action reviews,
  • tailored capacity-building activities and trainings.

Activities outside of the EU/EEA will be operationalised in collaboration with the European Commission, in particular DG ECHO, and/or the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). 

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed shortcomings in the European Union mechanisms for managing public health threats, including a lack of readily available resources for timely deployment to emergency settings.

The strengthened ECDC mandate establishes the creation of an EU Health Task Force (EUHTF) as a deployable public health work force providing effective operational response and crisis preparedness support to EU/EEA countries and wider global health security. The Task Force will support countries and international organisations in responding to emergencies during outbreaks and crises in a timely manner. 

ECDC will establish and coordinate the EUHTF, with the support and collaboration of the European Commission, EU/EEA countries, and international organisations.