Practiced Pandemic Response
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On Wednesday, October 29, the Committee for Infectious Disease Preparedness conducted an exercise on implementing measures in a situation where avian influenza spreads between humans.
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Go to the home pageThe exercise was carried out by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and served as a pilot for similar exercises to be conducted in other European countries.
Serious Scenario
In the exercise scenario, an avian influenza virus had mutated and begun spreading between humans in Laos and Thailand. The virus caused severe illness, and 12 of those infected had died. ECDC assessed that the virus would likely spread to Europe and recommended that European countries prepare to implement infection control measures.
“The goal of the exercise was to initiate a discussion between different levels of government and sectors about the development of infection control measures and the decision-making process for implementing them,” said Thomas Hofmann, Head of Section Emergency Preparedness and Response.
Helen Brandstorp, Division director at the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Chair of the Committee for Infectious Disease Preparedness, believes the exercise showed there is room for improvement in terms of involvement.
“The discussion showed that we are well prepared to coordinate at the ministry and directorate level, and that the Committee for Infectious Disease Preparedness can play an important role in a new pandemic. We also uncovered that involvement of county governors and municipalities remains a weak point. We need to work on that going forward,” said Brandstorp.
Challenging Trade-offs
The most important measures proposed included gathering knowledge and data, border control, testing, contact tracing, and extensive communication efforts.
“It is difficult to weigh the benefits of infection control measures against the costs and disadvantages they entail. It requires both a broad knowledge base and good cross-sector collaboration to make sound decisions,” emphasized Executive Director of the Division of Infection Control, Preben Aavitsland, at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, that hosted the exercise.
Limited Knowledge
According to ECDC, the knowledge base for many infection control measures was limited during the handling of COVID-19. Since then, various guidelines and recommendations have been developed, and now ECDC is working with countries on how to establish good governance mechanisms for the design, implementation and evaluation of measures during public health emergencies.