Anticipating Future Pandemics, European Union Launches Health Crisis Agency With A Budget Of 500 Trillion

Illustration of the European Union. (Wikimedia Commons/Amio Cajander)

JAKARTA - The European Commission launched a health crisis agency that will coordinate nearly 30 billion euros worth of EU spending to prepare for future pandemics.

The new Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) will assess potential health threats, promote research, ensure critical production availability and help build supplies.

If a new health crisis hits, it will activate emergency funding and help coordinate monitoring, procurement and purchasing of medical equipment or care.

The authorities are designed in part to avoid repeating ad hoc measures, such as those taken by individual EU countries at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of which are inefficient, others at the expense of other EU members.

The new agency will complement other EU health agencies, such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said the two institutions had been strengthened, but that alone was not enough.

"Both institutions have very important roles to play but especially after the pandemic hit us," he told a news conference.

"HERA will be our primary instrument for coordinating preparedness and, if needed, response. This is what we missed today."

HERA, which will be fully operational in early 2022, plans to have 6 billion euros from the EU budget for 2022-2027, with other programs bringing total EU spending on health security to nearly 30 billion euros.

If added together with the individual projects of EU members and businesses, the expenditure can reach a total of 50 billion euros.