The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is a directorate-general of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

created to prepare the EU for a future

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

and to avoid the mistakes made during the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

European Commission President The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...

first announced plans for such a body in 2020. On 15 September 2021, the EU announced the launch of HERA and the service was established as a directorate-general of the European Commission on 16 September. HERA has been operational since early 2022. HERA will assess potential health threats, promote research, ensure the availability of critical production and help build stockpiles. During a health crisis, the authority would activate emergency funding and help coordinate monitoring, acquisition and purchase of

medical equipment A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

or treatments.

References

External links

HERA subsection
of the European Commission's Website
Public Health EU Portal
the official public health portal of the European Union
Commission Decision of 16 September 2021 establishing the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority
on

EUR-Lex Eur-Lex (stylized EUR-Lex) is an official website of European Union law and other public documents of the European Union (EU), published in 24 official languages of the EU. The Official Journal (OJ) of the European Union is also published on EUR- ...

Proposal for a Council Regulation on a framework of urgent measures related to medical countermeasures in the event of a public health emergency at Union level
on EUR-Lex *
Procedure 2021/0294/NLE
on EUR-Lex *
Document file COM(2021)0577
on ŒIL
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on serious cross-border threats to health
*
Procedure 2020/0322/COD
on EUR-Lex *
Procedure 2020/0322(COD)
on ŒIL {{European Commission administration 2021 establishments in Europe Government agencies established in 2021 Medical and health organizations based in Europe Medical research institutes Government health agencies Organizations based in Europe COVID-19 pandemic in Europe Health and the European Union Executive agencies of the European Commission Directorates-General in the European Commission

See also

References

External links