Europe's inadequate response to swine flu cannot be swept under carpet, says MEP

Strasbourg, 9th March 2010

Marina Yannakoudakis calls for lessons to be learned in order to improve future response

The way the European Union responded to last year's swine flu outbreak has raised serious questions about the EU's effectiveness in a public health crisis that cannot be ignored, Marina Yannakoudakis, an ECR member of the European Parliament's environment committee, said today.

Marina, a UK Conservative representing London, has added her name to a political initiative across all groups in the European Parliament calling for the establishment of a temporary committee to shed light on the political and scientific decision-making processes related to the H1N1 outbreak.

The MEP said there had been a fundamental mismatch between the huge expense incurred in managing the outbreak and the actual severity of the supposed 'pandemic', which has killed around 1500 people in the EU compared to 40000 deaths in an average year from seasonal influenza.

Marina said she was sceptical as to whether the Parliament would agree to set up a temporary committee but said that MEPs should not wait for such a step in order to uncover what she said was a poorly coordinated and badly led effort at institutional level.

She called for the environment committee to allocate part of its research budget to commission an external study looking into the outbreak in order to help provide European citizens with answers.

However, Marina said that any action taken by the European Parliament in this respect should not seek to 'name and shame', but rather to learn lessons and make the EU better prepared for future public health emergencies.

She said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control needed to be reformed and strengthened in order to enhance the EU's rapid response capability.

Marina added that the European Parliament's work needed to focus on other actors like the World Health Organization, and she called for the Parliament to examine what its own role should be in dealing with future such crises.

Marina said:

"The initial EU response indicated that this would be a terrible pandemic.

"In such circumstances it's hardly surprising that citizens are concerned when the predictions of doom turn out to be vastly exaggerated.

"The establishment of a temporary committee of the European Parliament would help to shed light on the EU's response and to give us ideas about how to improve when the next pan-European public health emergency comes along.

"I have my doubts as to whether we will get a temporary committee but we should not put all our hopes on this.

"I want the environment committee to use part of its research budget to commission a study that exposes the shortcomings of the EU's response and gives us a solid base for getting it right in the future.

"It's important we get away from a culture of blame, which is of no use to Europe's citizens, and focus instead on learning lessons for the future."

Contact:
Marina Yannakoudakison +33 (0)3 88 1 75692

ECR Press Office
James Holtum +32 473 861762