The BioMed Alliance joined the European Chronic Disease Alliance (ECDA) and 9 other European health organisations in a joint letter addressed to the Council of the European Union to call for an extended mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The joint letter highlights the need for an integrated public health approach where the scope of the ECDC is expanded to other health issues than solely communicable diseases. Indeed, the letter emphasises the clinical links between communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases which require to take into account non-communicable diseases when considering the actions to prevent and control infectious diseases. The letter also argues that enhancing the data collection-efforts could provide important health benefits and foster health promotion.