The European Commission announced on Thursday launching a new Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) that will ensure development, production and distribution of medical countermeasures
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2021) The European Commission announced on Thursday launching a new Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) that will ensure development, production and distribution of medical countermeasures.
"Today, the European Commission is launching the HERA to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to health emergencies. HERA will anticipate threats and potential health crises, through intelligence gathering and building the necessary response capacities," the commission said in a statement.
In the event of emergency, the authority will "ensure the development, production and distribution of medicines, vaccines and other medical countermeasures - such as gloves and masks - that were often lacking during the first phase of the coronavirus response."
This internal European Commission structure will become fully operational early next year.
"HERA activities will rely on a budget of ��6 billion ($7 billion) from the current Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2022-2027, part of which will come from the NextGenerationEU top-up," the commission added.
