Dear readers,
I am pleased to inform you that, 5 years after my previous experience as an editorialist of the SHIPSAN ACT newsletter, I received the invitation, which honors me, to carry out a similar task for the next 4 issues of this newsletter, a direct inheritance of the SHIPSAN projects.
After a rapid transition in other health sectors, for less than a year I have been again entrusted with the coordination of port and airport health offices at the Italian Ministry of Health and I have observed a growing interest, not only at European level, in the “Healthy GateWays” project – a deeper interest, if we consider that it also involves the aviation sector.
Coming to the content of this newsletter, I am providing you with an excerpt from Prof. Hadjichristodoulou’s intervention included in the “News from the Consortium”, reflecting the wide European involvement and mentioning the event to be held on November 26th in Rome. This event, which I helped to organize,
will represent an opportunity for discussion and planning of cross-border health activities in the medium-long term among ministerial directors with strategic responsibilities. The reading of the results of the inspection season on board ships will arouse equal interest, due to the number of ports and ships involved.
I wish you a good reading.
Mauro Dionisio
Prof. Christos Hadjichristodoulou
EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS Joint Action Coordinator, Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology,
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Thessaly, Greece
We are currently on month 18, half way through the joint action implementation and this is the ideal time for feedback and evaluation. The Interim Evaluation report had been submitted and except of the summary of the activities evaluated until now and the assessment of indicators, the consortium members were asked via an online questionnaire to provide their feedback on the coordination and dissemination activities. A short summary of the report will be published in one of the future issues. Moreover, the interim technical and financial reporting will have to be finalized by the end of the year.
The consortium as part of their identification of relevant stakeholders has developed a list of European Designated Points of Entry including details on competent authorities and contact persons. Following the decision of the 1st General Assembly meeting in June 2019, the consortium has been asked to expand the European list of points of entry by including all points of entry even if they are not designated according to IHR. The list of European points of entry according to IHR (2005) will be further developed into a searchable database that will be hosted under the EU POENET (European Points of Entry Network) under the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS web-portal.
All technical work packages are making good progress with all deliverables and in the upcoming months stakeholders will be receiving more information about this.
The Coordinator together with the Ministry of Health, Italy (Leaders of Work Package 3 – Evaluation) and UKE-Germany (leaders of Work Package 4-Sustainability) are organising an important Sustainability Site Visit and Regional High-Level Policy Officers meeting on Tuesday, 26th November 2019 in Rome, Italy. The objective of the meeting is to discuss the national level uptake and integration of maritime transport activities and deliverables of the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS Joint Action.
The EU HEALHTY GATEWAYS was presented in the EU Health Programme High Level Conference in Brussels
Activities of the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS (webinars, newsletters and other meetings) are now being published also in the AGORA section under the EU Health Policy Platform. AGORA is a common online space to boost discussion on health issues, publish news and events
Visit the web portal by clicking on the link below: www.healthygateways.eu
HEALTHY GATEWAYS ON THE MEDIA
Check out under the Publications section the list of websites, newsletters, reports referencing or presenting EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS joint action.
Under publications you will also find links to direct you to the AIRSAN and SHIPSAN publications.
https://www.healthygateways.eu/Publications
Follow us on Social Media of the joint action
Thematic Sections
MARITIME TRANSPORT
Update on Inspection Activities
Dr. Barbara Mouchtouri, Leader of Work Package 7, University of Thessaly, Greece
Short notice Inspection Results (2018-2019)
The EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS joint action collaborates with the Ministries of Health of 20 EUMS for the development of a European Annual Inspection Programme of passenger ships according to the European Manual for Hygiene Standards and Communicable Disease Surveillance for passenger ships.
In 2019, almost 90 inspections have been scheduled to be conducted by competent authorities in 30 European ports. Passenger shipping companies receive as of June 2019 a short 24-hour notice informing them about the inspection. Inspections were conducted by 65 inspectors fulfilling the criteria as set in the European Manual and 8 inspectors in training. Until 7th November 2019 a total of seventy (80) short 24-hour notice inspections were completed by the competent authorities in 30 European ports on board 66 cruise ships, 4 ferries and 10 river ships.
Table 1 presents the results of the short notice inspections for 2018 and 2019 (until 15/10/2019).
Inspection grades for cruise ships and ferries
Inspection team prepares the inspection report where inspection findings and corrective actions are included and based on these findings, each inspection receives a letter grade “A”, “B”, “C”, or “D”. The grading system was introduced with the purpose to both encourage compliance with EU health and hygiene standards, and to inform the public about the level of hygiene standards on board cruise ships and ferries. The overall objective is to contribute to a high level of public health protection in the European Union. All ships inspected and the ones that receive a grade A are available on the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS joint action web-portal.
https://www.healthygateways.eu/Inspection-Grading-System
Inspection fees
A working group has been established with the aim to develop an inspection fees scheme. Further information about the progress of the working group will be reported in future issues.
Table 1: Short notice inspection results for 2018-2019
| |
Short Notice Inspections
|
|
2018
(48-hour inspection notice)
|
2019
(24-hour inspection notice)
Results as of 7 November 2019
|
|
Completed
|
Total Scheduled
|
|
Inspection Reports
|
47
|
80
|
87
|
|
Ports
|
19
|
30
|
33
|
|
Inspectors/inspectors in training
|
39/3
|
65/8
|
-
|
|
Trainers/Observers
|
2
|
3
|
-
|
|
Countries
|
11
|
12
|
12
|
|
Cruise ships - Seagoing
|
36
|
66
|
73
|
|
Cruise ships - Inland
|
7
|
10
|
10
|
|
Ferry ships
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
|
Corrective Action Statements
|
39
|
31
|
-
|
|
A. Non compliances with requirements of EU legislation
|
130
|
225
|
-
|
|
B. Non compliances with recommended standards of the Manual
|
300
|
487
|
-
|
|
C. Notations
|
10
|
39
|
-
|
National Good Practice
Spanish Accreditation System for Training Courses
Dr. Miguel Dávila-Cornejo, Head of the Health Control Unit, Deputy Directorate General of Foreign Health, Directorate General for Public Health, Quality and Innovation, Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare, Spain
The Spanish Ministry of Health (Deputy Directorate of Foreign Health) has the responsibility of providing training to ship inspectors working at Spanish ports. We develop the National Training Program for Foreign Health Units on an annual basis and organize several training courses focused on different aspects of the work they do.
A few years ago, we decided to include the National SHIPSAN training course in the Program in order to have more inspectors prepared to conduct the inspections in the scope of the SHIPSAN Inspection Plan for Passengers Ships. We have since held a total of 3 training courses in which we have trained more than 60 inspectors on SHIPSAN aspects.
All the inspectors who passed the courses have received official certification issued by the national competent authority. Nevertheless, we wanted to take it a step further and give the training added value. That’s why we decided to subject the courses to the to the Accreditation System for the Continuing Education of Health Professionals so that the content and methodology of the course would be evaluated by an external organization in accordance with standardized criteria. Once the evaluation was carried out, the Accreditation System for the Continuing Education of Health Professionals gave the “TRAINING COURSE FOR SPANISH FOREIGN HEALTH INSPERCTORS-2018. THE EUROPEAN PROJECT SHIPSAN”, that was held in the port of Alicante in October 2018, a total number of 6.6 training credits.
No doubt, giving our inspectors the opportunity to have those training credits is very important for their careers. In addition to this, the fact that the training course has been accredited by an external organization proves that the content is appropriate for the purpose for which it was designed. We will continue to request accreditation for not only the face to face SHIPSAN training courses, but also the E-learning ones.
Health emergency preparedness for imported cases of high-consequence infectious diseases
To support countries in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) in their review of preparedness system planning, ECDC launched an operational checklist for health emergency preparedness for imported cases of high consequence infectious diseases. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/health-emergency-preparedness-imported-cases-high-consequence-infectious-diseases
Events
Past Events of the joint action
Training of the trainers’ course: Preparedness and response to public health events at airports
When: 18th – 20th September 2019
Where: Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanović Batut", Belgrade, Serbia
Author: Svenja Mertens
After the first training of the trainers’ course for managing public health events at ports in March this year, the consortium was now welcomed to Belgrade, Serbia, where the course titled “Preparedness and response to public health events at airports” took place in the Institute for Public Health “Dr Milan Jovanović Batut”. It was organized from 18th to 20th September by the University of Thessaly, Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Greece, the work package leaders for air transport, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany and Folkhälsomyndigheten, The Public Health Agency of Sweden, as well as the work package leaders for training from the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Netherlands, and the experts for chemical events from Public Health England, UK and the National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia.
A total of 69 persons attended the training course. In particular:
- 43 trainees [37 participants from 20 EU countries and countries that participate in the Third Health programme (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands) and 6 participants from 4 non-EU countries (Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Morocco)
- 23 presenters, facilitators and observers
- 3 persons provided administrative support (from the University of Thessaly, Greece)
The purpose of this training course was to increase the competence to respond to public health events at airports starting from preparedness planning and risk assessment over decision making to risk communication, always closely connected to the International Health Regulations (IHR) determined by the WHO. It is intended that, after this course for trainers, each participating country of the JA and the course conduct its own training on a national level at designated points of entry.
The training course consisted of two components:
- Essential online pre-course e-learning sessions
- The 3-day face-to-face training course that started at 9 a.m. on 18th and finished at 2 p.m. on 20th of September 2019 followed by a workshop for chemical threats from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
Methodologically, experts from public health authorities and the industry gave a short introduction on the topic that was further illustrated through different case studies in four training groups. The groups had fruitful discussions, and experiences and practices from different countries were highlighted during these sessions.
After a practical introduction on training methods and adult learning, the first day’s topics included preparedness planning at airports, risk assessment, event detection and verification as well as decision making for taking different public health measures.
One of the public health measures often discussed is contact tracing which was the first topic of the second day followed by other health measures and risk communication. The third and last day was dedicated to chemical threats and how to prevent and respond to those issues.
Each presentation and training session was evaluated through web-based polls. An overall evaluation showed that the majority of participants feels already confident to conduct a training in their country and wants to start right away.
Workshop for chemicals threats at Points of Entry
When: 20th September 2019
Where: Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanović Batut", Belgrade, Serbia
A half-day workshop for chemicals threats at Points of Entry was held back-to-back with the training of the trainers’ course on the 20th September 2019. The workshop was organised by the Public Health England (PHE), UK and the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), Slovenia. The purpose of the workshop is to identify gaps, opportunities and raise awareness of best practice for chemicals at all points of entry and improve understanding of existing arrangements in Member States. It addressed, at a national level, the plans for preparedness and action for dealing with a chemical incident at all Points of Entry.
Webinar Series on Preparedness at Points of Entry
Crossing Borders: Tools and Strategies to Reduce the Risk of Importation and Exportation of Tuberculosis across the U.S. Border
Live webinar: Tuesday 22 October 2019, 15:30 CEST
A total of 80 participants from 21 European countries and 5 non-EU countries registered to watch the live or recorded webinar out of which 25 watched the live webinar.
Agenda
- Overview-Tools and Strategies to control TB at the U.S. Border
Clive Brown, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- The Overseas US Tuberculosis Screening Program
Drew Posey, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Response to persons traveling by air conveyance while infectious with TB – DGMQ’s Aviation Activity
Araceli Rey, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Federal Public Health Travel Restriction Tools: Do Not Board and Public Health Lookouts for TB
Robynne Jungerman, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- CureTB model for transnational mobility
Kathleen Moser, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Webinars are available for playback viewing
All webinars are recorded and are available for play back viewing.
Visit the website to apply https://www.healthygateways.eu/Core-work-packages/Training
Sustainability Site Visit and Regional High-Level Policy Officers Meeting
When: Tuesday, 26th November 2019 Where: Rome, Italy
A sustainability site visit and regional high-level policy officers meeting is organised on Tuesday 26th November 2019 in Rome, Italy. This meeting will be held back-to-back with a national Italian dissemination day conference “Cross-border health safety: the Joint Action HEALTHY GATEWAYS” being organized by the Istituto Superiore di Sanita and Minstero della Salute on 25th November 2019.
The aim of this meeting is to invite Joint Action partners and high-level policy officers (e.g. from national Ministries of Health and Ministries of Transport) from the following countries: Italy (local organisers), Germany (Leaders of WP 4: Sustainability), Belgium, Greece, Slovenia, Spain and The Netherlands to discuss sustainability and integration of EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS activities at national-level, particularly activities under the framework of the maritime transport work package.
EU Health Programme High Level Conference in Brussels
When: 30 September 2019 Where: Brussels, Belgium
The conference highlighted the results of the current and previous EU Health Programmes and present the new approach in the future Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.
The event was hosted by Vytenius Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health, and was organised by the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency with support by the European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety.
The EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS joint action was represented by Prof. Hadjichristodoulou (Coordinator) and Dr Barbara Mouchtouri (Leader of work package 7-maritime transport).
The joint action was presented under the “Highlights from current and past programme” session and also participated via a stand exchibition and poster session. Prof. Hadjichristodoulou deliver a presentation titled “Health Preparedness” and Dr Mouchtouri participated in the poster and stand exhibition where a poster was displayed and materials from the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS and SHIPSAN ACT joint actions were disseminated.
Moreover the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS was presented in the Booklet ‘Health for the EU’ which included a selection of actions funded under the third EU Health Programme - special edition for the EU Health Programme Conference 30 September 2019
For further details (materials, recordings etc) please visit the conference website here.
SHARP Joint Action
One Health Security Conference
When: 14-15 October 2019 Where: Helsinki
The aim of the Conference was to strengthen the implementation of International Health Regulations (IHR) in Europe in cooperation with the WHO and the EU, focusing on a comprehensive Health Security approach.
Dr Brigita Kairiene (Head of Department of Communicable Diseases Management, National Public Health Centre, Klaipeda Department and Co-leader of Work Package on Ground – Crossings) presented the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS activities.
For further details please visit the conference website here.
10th Annual meeting of the European Legionnaires’ Disease Surveillance (ELDSNET)
When: 9-10 September 2019Where: Athens, Greece
The objectives of the annual ELDSNet meeting was:
- To present and discuss the epidemiology of Legionnaires’ disease in Europe in 2018
- To exchange experiences and knowledge on clusters and outbreaks related to Legionnaires’ disease
- To discuss and recommend ways on improving diagnostics and detection for Legionella species and Legionnaires‘ disease
Prof. Hadjichristodoulou (Coordinator) and Dr Barbara Mouchtouri (Leader of work package 7-maritime transport) represented the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS joint action and gave a presentation on “EU Healthy Gateways activities and Legionnaires‘ disease”
12TH EUROPEAN PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE
When: 20 – 23 NOVEMBER 2019 Where:, MARSEILLE, FRANCE
The EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS will have a broad presence in the 12th European Public Health Conference in Marseille, France.
Prof. Hadjichristodoulou (Coordinator) will participate in the Pre-conference: EU cooperation to strengthen preparedness and management of cross-border health threats. The pre-conference agenda is available here.
Moreover, an hour Workshop: Sharing best practices and building effective training at European points of entry is planned by RIVM and the University of Thessaly and UKE-Germany. For further details on the workshop visit the link here
Finally, Prof. Hadjichristodoulou will be participating in the UEMS section for Public Health meeting and will participate as a panelist/speaker in the Lunch symposiums on Friday 22nd November titled Working together: The EU 3rd Health Programme as the enabler towards success.
For further details please visit the conference website here
Workshop: Field Applications for stopping infectious disease threats at international points of entry
When: 20 November 2019 Where: Maryland, USA
A pre-conference workshop is taking place on 20 November in Maryland, USA at the upcoming American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting.
The workshop entitled Field Applications for stopping infectious disease threats at international points of entry will provide attendees an opportunity to understand the challenges faced by national authorities and international response organizations by providing a theoretical framework for implementation of the IHR at international PoE, as well as by providing practical experience through facilitated discussions and exercises.
For further information please ckick here
Dr. Janusz Janiec: IHR NFP Coordinator
Janusz Janiec is a medical doctor with specialization in epidemiology, with main duties on coordination of IHR National Focal Point activities related to cross border public health threats. He works in National Institute of Public Health in Poland. He participates in European Union funded projects in the area of public health threats of international concern in relation to aviation (AIRSAN), points of entry (Healthy GateWays) and implementation of International Health Regulation (SHARP). He is a graduate of the European Program for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), assigned to Public Health Wales, Cardiff, UK. During his current duties in IHR NFP in Poland he has been involved in many international contact tracings, mainly related to air travel.
