Dr. Andrea Ammon at informal EPSCO meeting
On 27-28 July 2023, Dr. Andrea Ammon participated in the EPSCO Health informal meeting in Gran Canaria. The meeting was chaired by the Spanish Minister of Health, José Miñones.
The following topics were discussed:
- Digital Health - Paving the Path to the European Health Union.
- Improving mental health in the EU.
- Actions to build up EU open strategic autonomy in the area of medicines and medical devices.
During the session on digital health, Andrea informed ministers that ECDC stands ready to support Member States in improving digitalised and integrated systems. ECDC plans to enable timely epidemiological surveillance to provide the right information where and when needed to effectively address cross-border health threats.
She also briefed ministers on ECDC activities in several initiatives for digital health and electronic health records data for communicable disease surveillance, such as:
- the ECDC eHealth Tender
- the European Health Data Space 2 pilot study for the HealthData@EU infrastructure
- the eHealth Network
- the Joint Action for integrated surveillance.
The EPSCO Council brings together ministers responsible for employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs from all EU member states. Relevant European Commissioners also participate in meetings. Beside regular councils, informal EPSCO can be held to allow timely exchanges of views between leaders on pressing topics without taking formal decisions.
