ELPA is part of the Advisory Forum of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

ELPA is part of the Advisory Forum of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

ELPA is an official member representing non-governmental organisations – patients, of the Advisory Forum of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

ELPA President Marko Korenjak has been selected to be part of the Advisory Forum. An assembly aimed to support the Director in ensuring the scientific excellence and independence of activities and opinions of the Centre. It constitutes a mechanism for an exchange of information on health threats and the pooling of knowledge. It also ensures close cooperation between the Centre and the competent bodies in the Member States in particular on the following items:

• coherence of the Centre’s scientific studies with the Member States;

• in those circumstances where the Centre and a national body cooperate;

• the promoting, starting up, and supervising of the European networks within the fields of the Centre’s mission;

• where the Centre or a Member State identifies an emerging public health threat;

• the setting up of scientific panels by the Centre;

• scientific and public health priorities to be addressed in the work programme.

The main task of the patient organisation representative is patient advocacy to ensure that patient and public perspectives are taken into account in the advice to the ECDC Director, in support of the overall role of the Advisory Forum.

ELPA is honoured to be part of the Forum, and it will work together with the rest of the team to improve the work of ECDC putting patients in the spotlight.