EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS JOINT ACTION PREPAREDNESS AND ACTION AT POINTS OF ENTRY (PORTS, AIRPORTS, GROUND CROSSINGS)

Training

09  Capacity building and training

 

Leader: National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Netherlands

This work package consists of all actions for capacity building including training at points of entry


Objectives:

To support the development, coordination, organization and implementation of Joint Action activities, including:

  • Training courses (online and face-to-face)
  • Table top/simulation exercises
  • Exchange of visits
  • Webinars

Main Tasks:

  • A tool focused on infectious diseases will be developed to be used by the countries to create a risk profile for ports. Version 1 of the tool will be pilot-tested and results will be used to develop Version 2.
  • Advice/guidance for preparedness and response to the outbreak of COVID-19 (air, maritime, ground-crossings sector) was prepared to support countries to detect and manage COVID-19 cases at points of entry.
  • European and national level training courses, table-top and simulation exercises and webinars will be delivered. (See below for further information)

Deliverables:

A web-based training resources catalogue for points of entry, including international, EU and national training courses. This will be an electronically searchable catalogue, where interested parties can find training resources for points of entry.

SOPs for vector surveillance and control activities at all points of entry.

Report from the implementation of the multi-sectorial table top/simulation exercise at ports at EU level.

Guidelines for inter-country communication and information flow in outbreak investigations and management of public health events. The guidelines will include the roles of stakeholders involved in outbreak investigations on ships, and more generally, in the management of public health events and flowcharts of information among countries and at EU level.

 

TRAINING COURSES

 

A total of 3 EU-level face-to-face or web-based training courses (“training of the trainers”) will be organized under the Joint Action.

 

The training material for each course will be developed jointly by the technical context experts of WPs 5, 6, 7, 8 and the training experts of WP 9. Where existing and available, WHO Learning Packages for event management at PoEs will be used and adapted to fit the EU context.

 

Based on national needs and priorities, countries will organize face-to-face or web-based national level training courses. The joint action will provide the training material and the network of subject matter experts to participate as trainers and cover in part the cost of the course/s organization.

E-learning courses will also be developed jointly by the technical content experts of WPs 5, 6, 7, 8 and training experts of WP 9. All participants enrolled in face-to-face training courses should participate in e-learning courses prior to attendance.

The purpose of the training courses will be to increase the competence and capacity of professionals responsible for event management at points of entry for risk assessment, decision-making and crisis communication. The face-to-face/web-based training courses will additionally provide training on organizing and delivering table-top/simulation exercises. Target groups for both European and national level training courses will be professionals responsible for event management at all types of PoE.

TRAINING AT EUROPEAN LEVEL

Subject

Location

Date

Tasks

Material development coordination

Course  coordination

Preparedness and response to public health events at ports

Piraeus

March 2019

UTH-EL

RIVM-NL

Preparedness and response to public health events at airports

Serbia

September 2019

UKE-DE and FOHM-SE

RIVM-NL

Preparedness and response to public health events at ground crossings

Web-based

May 2021

NIPH-NIH-PL

RIVM-NL

Activities focused on COVID-19 preparedness and response at PoE at EU level:

 

-Interview study with infectious disease professionals involved in COVID-19 response at European PoE. Results will be used for training purposes (e.g. preparation of training materials)

 

-Development of online asynchronous training courses focused on preparedness and response at PoE in the EU/EEA MS in the context of COVID-19

1

M48

UTH-EL

RIVM-NL

 

 

TRAINING COURSES AT NATIONAL LEVEL

National Training Courses

Location

Date

Coordinating Partners

Coordination of training material

Coordination of course

  • Preparedness and response to public health events at ground crossings
  • Preparedness and response to public health events at airports
  • Preparedness and response to public health events at ports
  • Vector surveillance and control at PoE
  • Information system use.

Can also focus on COVID-19 preparedness and response at PoE

In countries that will conduct national training course (web-based or face-to-face)

Various

RIVM-NL

Joint Action country organizing the national training course

 

 JOINT ACTION TABLE-TOP/SIMULATION EXERCISES

Table-top/simulation exercises will be conducted for the Joint Action at EU, national and local levels. These exercises will be developed jointly by the technical context experts of WPs 5, 6, 7, 8 and the training experts of WP 9.

 

 

 

 

TABLE-TOP/SIMULATION EXERCISES AT LOCAL LEVEL

Topic

Objective

Number

Location

Target Group

Public health event at port

Number of exercises (ports) dependent on national needs and priorities of countries

Designated ports in countries that conduct based on national need/ priorities

UTH-EL, RIVM-NL

Local authorities at each country

Public health event at airport    

Number of exercises (airports) dependent on national needs and priorities of countries

Designated airports, in countries that conduct based on national need/ priorities

UKE-DE, FOHM-SE, RIVM-NL

Local authorities at each country

           

 

 

 

JOINT ACTION WEBINARS

A six-month webinar schedule is developed for the Joint Action, with ad-hoc webinars included in this schedule as required.

Target groups for the webinars are professionals responsible for core capacity implementation, preparedness planning and event management at PoE.

The content of the webinars address issues related to public health event management common to all PoE types.

Past webinars

Inspection Grading System

(Broadcasted live on Wednesday 12 September 2018)

Presenter: 

  • Jaret Ames, Senior Technical Expert, EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS Joint Action

 

 

Border health measures to reduce the potential for the introduction or exportation, and spread of public health diseases of international concern

(Broadcasted live on Tuesday 11 December 2018)

Presenters:    

  • Clive Brown, Chief Quarantine and Border Health Services Branch, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Kathleen Moser, MD, Medical Officer, US-Mexico Unit – San Diego Office, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, National Center for Emerging & Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Rebecca Merrill, Epidemiologist, Global Border Health Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

Available for play-back viewing

Issues on disinfection and disinsection on aircrafts

(Broadcasted live on Tuesday 19 March 2019)

Presenters:   

  • Sabine Hölterhoff. Manager on Occupational Safety & Health on behalf of Lufthansa Technik with responsibility on the Fleet services for the line maintenance on Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo aircrafts.
  • Joachim Klaus. Occupational Safety Engineer Flight Operations on behalf of the Lufthansa Group and expert on barrier concepts for all concerns of industrial hygiene on behalf of the airline business.

 

Available for play-back viewing

Inspection Grading System for the Shipping Industry  

(Broadcasted live on Thursday 11 April 2019)

Inspection Grading System – an update

(Broadcasted live on Thursday 17 April 2019)

Presenters:   

  • Jaret Ames, Senior Technical Expert, EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS Joint Action
  • Barbara Mouchtouri, Leader of Work Package 7 “Maritime transport”, EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS Joint Action, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Thessaly, Greece

 

 

Preparing and responding to chemical events at Points of Entry: ports

(Broadcasted live on Tuesday, 28 May 2019)

Presenters:   

  • Dr Tom Gaulton, UK: Tom is currently a Health Protection Scientist in the Chemical and Environmental Effects Department (CEED) at Pubic Health England (PHE) in the UK, where he works on and manages various projects on chemical threats, chemical incidents (including cross-border incidents) and surveillance of chemical incidents. Tom has participated in, organised and delivered multi-country exercises on serious cross border chemical health threats and has previously worked on the SHIPSAN ACT JA, providing technical input into the management of chemical and radiological incidents on ships and at ports.
  • Dr Charlotte Hague, UK: Charlotte is a Health Protection Scientist in the Chemical and Environmental Effects Department (CEED) at Pubic Health England (PHE) in the UK. Charlotte is also part of the chemical incident surveillance team within the CEED at PHE and has experience participating in, organising and delivering multi-country exercises on serious cross border chemical health threats. Charlotte has previously been a project manager of two collaborative EU funded projects which aim to improve EU level response to chemical incidents that may pose a cross-border public health risk; The European Chemical Emergency Network (ECHEMNET) and The Alerting System for Chemical Health Threats phase three (ASHTIII).
  • Mr Matej Ivartnik, Slovenia: Matej is an expert associate from NIJZ (Slovenian National Institute of Public Health), with a career in sanitary engineering and environmental science spanning almost 20 years. Matej is also a member of the expert group for chemical safety and drinking water and a member of the coordination group for preparedness and serious cross-border health threats. Matej has previously participated in multiple EU-wide exercises on cross-border threats to health, both as an individual and country representative for Slovenia.

 

Available for play-back viewing

Preparing and responding to chemical events at Points of Entry: airports

(Broadcasted live on Tuesday 6 August 2019)

Presenters:   

  • Dr Tom Gaulton, UK: Tom is currently a Health Protection Scientist in the Chemical and Environmental Effects Department (CEED) at Pubic Health England (PHE) in the UK, where he works on and manages various projects on chemical threats, chemical incidents (including cross-border incidents) and surveillance of chemical incidents. Tom has participated in, organised and delivered multi-country exercises on serious cross border chemical health threats and has previously worked on the SHIPSAN ACT JA, providing technical input into the management of chemical and radiological incidents on ships and at ports.
  • Dr Peter Otorepec, Head of Department, National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia: He is a specialist of hygiene and occupational medicine. He is currently in charge of the Environment and Health department at NIJZ. Dr. Otorepec has a great deal of experience in the field of environment and health. He was involved in various EU projects related to preparedness, plans and management of chemical incidents (EMNET, ECHEMNET, SHIPSAN). He was also involved in developing a method for Health impact assessment.
  • Dr. Boris Kopilovic, Head of Working Group for Infectious Diseases in Unit Koper, Centre for Communicable Diseases National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia. Medical doctor, PhD, specialist in epidemiology and specialist in occupational medicine. He is working in various areas of public health for 22 years. Expert in epidemiologic methodology and analysis, transmission of infectious diseases, outbreak investigation, and surveillance procedures. Other areas of his specialty include epidemiology of viral hepatitises and occupational medicine. 
  • Dr. Andreja Kukec is an assistant professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, and a national expert for public health in National Institute of Public Health. She has a great deal of experience in the field of indoor and outdoor air pollution and different methodological approaches (HIA). She was involved in developing a method for Health impact and risk assessment of contaminated sites (IS1408). 

Available for play-back viewing

Crossing Borders: Tools and Strategies to Reduce the Risk of Importation and Exportation of Tuberculosis across the U.S. Border

(Broadcasted live on Tuesday, 22 October 2019)

Presenters:   

  • Clive Brown, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Drew Posey, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Araceli Rey, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Robynne Jungerman, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Kathleen Moser, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

Available for play-back viewing

Health measures at points of entry to decrease the possibility of importation of Coronavirus cases (2019-nCoV) in EU Member States

(Broadcasted live on Wednesday 5 February 2020)

Presenters:   

  • Christos Hadjichristodoulou, University of Thessaly, Greece
  • Laura Jansen, Policy assistant, DG SANTE C3 Crisis management and preparedness in Health
  • Ninglan Wang, WHO
  • Cornelia Adlhoch, ECDC
  • Barbara Mouchtouri, University of Thessaly, Greece
  • Martin Dirksen Fischer, Hamburg Port Health Center, Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine, Germany
  • Miguel Davila, Ministry of Health, Spain
  • Anne de Vries, MD. Consultant infectious disease control at GGD Kennemerland
  • Mel Skipp, Carnival Corporation and plc, Senior Manager Health Policy

Available for play-back viewing

 

 

Risk communication at PoE in times of crises

(Broadcasted live on  Thursday 20th February 2020)

Presenters

  • Marion de Vries, RIVM, The Netherlands
  • Harald Wychgel, RIVM, The Netherlands
  • Barbra Bucci, Ministry of Health, Italy
  • Martin Dirksen Fischer, Hamburg Port Health Center, Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine, Germany
  • Miguel Dávila-Cornejo, Ministry of Health, Spain

 

Available for play-back viewing

Events related to COVID-19 at ground crossings

(Broadcasted live on Thursday 26th November 2020)

Presenters

  • Janusz Janiec, EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS Ground-crossings Transport Work Package Co-leader, IHR NFP Coordinator, National Institute of Public Health-National Institute of Hygiene, Poland
  • Brigita Kairienė, EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS Ground-crossings Transport Work Package Co-leader, Advisor of Quality Management and Communication Department, National Public Health Centre under The Ministry of Health, Lithuania
  • Aurimas Raulinaitis, Chief specialist of Public Health Safety Department at National Public Centre under the Ministry of Health, Lithuania
  • Martin Holzer, Occupational Safety and Health Officer, Capability Programming Office, FRONTEX

Available for play-back viewing

 

Public health emergency contingency plan at ports - EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS advice

(Broadcasted live on 10 February 2021)

Presenters:   

  • Assist. Prof. Barbara Mouchtouri (Leader of WP7: Maritime transport of the joint action EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS, University of Thessaly, Medical School, Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Greece)
  • Dr Martin Dirksen-Fischer (Head of the Hamburg Port Health Center, Germany)
  • Mr Leonidas Kourentis (Public Health Engineer, European Scientific Association for Health and Hygiene in Maritime Transport - EU SHIPSAN ASSOCIATION)
  • Mr Ioannis Bras (External Cruise Consultant to the Ministry of Tourism Greece, CEO Five Senses Consulting and Development)

Commentators:

  • Dr Mauro Dionisio  (Ministry of Health, Directorate General for Prevention (temporarily seconded at Directorate General for Communication and International Relationship, HEALTHY GATEWAYS Italian activities coordinator)
  • Dr. Miguel Dávila Cornejo (Head of the Health Control Unit, Deputy Directorate of Foreign Health, Directorate General for Public Health, Ministry of Health, Spain)

 

Interim advice for restarting river cruise ship operations and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

(Broadcasted live on 17 December 2021)

Presenters

  • Barbara Mouchtouri (University of Thessaly)
  • Thijs Veenstra (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Netherlands)
  • Maira van Helvoirt (European Barge Union, EBU)
  • Tanja Hartog (Public Health Service of Kennemerland, Netherlands)

Available for play-back viewing

 

 

Standard Operating Procedures for mosquito surveillance and control activities at Points of Entry

(Broadcasted live on 23 February 2022)

Presenters

  • Barbara Mouchtouri (University of Thessaly, Greece)
  • Leonidas Kourentis (University of Thessaly, Greece)
  • Adolfo Ibáñez-Justicia (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Netherlands)
  • Antonios Michaelakis (Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Greece)
  • Kristina Militzer (Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine, Hamburg, Germany)
  • Panos Milonas (Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Greece)
  • Mauro Dionisio (Ministry of Health, Directorate General for Health Prevention, Italy)
  • Brigita Kairiene (National Public Health Centre under The Ministry of Health, Lithuania)
  • Arjan Stroo (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Netherlands)
  • Kai-Di Yu (Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, Taiwan)
  • Raman Velayudhan (World Health Organization)
  • Olivier Briet (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control)

 

Available for play-back viewing

 

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