Two ECDC staff to join multidisciplinary team in Poland in support of displaced people from Ukraine
On 16 March, 2022, two ECDC experts will be deployed to join a multidisciplinary Union Civil Protection (UCP) team in Poland led by DG ECHO (Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations) that will provide support to the country’s reception of displaced people from Ukraine.
The main objective of the two ECDC experts is to support the setup of early warning and rapid response systems, surveillance data flows and other public health activities. The work will be carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Health of Poland and as well as the Polish Institute of Public Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international partners.
Specific activities may include:
- Supporting the EU humanitarian efforts to reduce the risk of communicable disease events among displaced people from Ukraine
- Supporting public health authorities to ensure continuity of vaccination programmes among displaced people from Ukraine
- Supporting the public health system to identify chronic infectious disease patients with treatment interruption
- Providing assistance in enhancing infectious disease surveillance by reinforcing surveillance and strengthening early outbreak detection and response operations
- Supporting risk assessment related to infectious disease threats and providing technical support for vulnerability assessments, risk mapping and development of preparedness/contingency plans at district level
The deployment of the two ECDC staff will last until 1 April 2022. ECDC intends to provide additional deployments to affected EU/EEA countries if and when needed.
For more information, see EU Civil Protection Mechanism factsheet and the ECDC report Operational public health considerations for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the context of Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine.
