Urgent action is required to improve efforts to prevent hepatitis B and C infections in the EU/EEA and the UK if the region is to meet the 2020 targets for the elimination of viral hepatitis as a serious threat to public health. Significant gaps in the reported data in relation to prevalence and prevention of HBV and HCV in EU/EEA and the UK present a major challenge to monitoring progress towards the targets for elimination of hepatitis.
European surveillance data show on-going transmission of viral hepatitis across the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA). The available notification data however, do not provide a clear epidemiological picture of hepatitis C in Europe. Prevalence data from population surveys are a key source of information to complement the surveillance data for hepatitis C due to the limitations of surveillance for hepatitis: the infection is often asymptomatic and notifications are strongly influenced by local testing practices. The overarching aim of this toolkit is to gain a better understanding of the HCV epidemiology in the EU/EEA.
This guidance aims to provide EU/EEA countries with an evidence-based framework to help develop, implement, monitor and evaluate their own national HBV, HCV and HIV testing guidelines and programmes.
This toolkit aims to support infection prevention in schools, with a focus on gastrointestinal diseases, by assisting EU/EEA countries in their communication initiatives for disease prevention in school settings.
ECDC is addressing the harmonisation and improvement of pertussis diagnosis for surveillance and outbreak detection/monitoring in order to assure quality and comparability of data. The guidance and protocol are intended for real-time PCR on DNA extracted from clinical specimens obtained from patients with suspected whooping cough (i.e. Bordetella pertussis or B. parapertussis).
This response plan is designed to prevent the spread of multidrug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae (MDR NG) in the EU/EEA in the context of the possible emergence of untreatable gonorrhoea
This evidence-based guidance is designed to inform the development, monitoring and evaluation of national strategies and programmes in countries in Europe in order to reduce and prevent infections among people who inject drugs.
The content of this joint guidance was developed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) with the support of a technical advisory group composed of policy makers, service providers, civil society representatives and preventative health experts from throughout the EU/EEA.