Public health and social measures for health emergencies and pandemics in the EU/EEA: recommendations for strengthening preparedness planning

The potential future implementation of PHSM requires careful consideration – informed by lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic – and should be explicitly addressed by national pandemic preparedness plans. During future epidemics and pandemics, there may be a period of time before the widespread availability of medical countermeasures where PHSMs may again be relied upon to reduce disease transmission, and mitigate deleterious health impacts. The public health objective of reducing overall harms to population health should continue to apply in crisis situations. A general principle should be that measures with the highest level of acceptability/feasibility and the lowest negative consequences could be introduced first and removed last, while also noting that the early implementation of some measures will yield the highest effectiveness.

This guidance document identifies key issues and recommendations, informed through extensive consultation with experts and ECDC stakeholders, related to the application of PHSMs in community settings. The recommendation presented here are intended to assist national and international public health institutions in identifying potential priority areas for work within their jurisdictions. It is noted that many matters discussed here may require extensive cross-governmental collaboration and sponsorship, but given the high stakes surrounding pandemic management – not to mention the significant impacts that PHSMs may have on communities – commensurate efforts are warranted.