WRITTEN QUESTION E-1658/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Genesis of new diseases, preparations for a SARS epidemic, declining research capacity and serious risks to older generations.
Date: 2003-05-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: disease prevention, epidemiology, health control, health policy, health risk, infectious disease, public health

15.1.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 11 E/209

(2004/C 11 E/235)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1658/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(19 May 2003)

Subject: Genesis of new diseases, preparations for a SARS epidemic, declining research capacity and serious

risks to older generations

1.
In weighing up the situation with regard to the new disease SARS and considering ways of
controlling it, ought not one of the main points to be borne in mind be that, although the disease is not
yet widespread in Europe, it could pose a disproportionate risk so long as there is no way of preventing
susceptibility to it or of curing infected patients swiftly?

Can the Commission confirm that, although until the beginning of May 2003 nobody had died of
2.
SARS in Europe,
it is now clear from data from outside Europe that the SARS mortality rate varies
between age groups, and that 13 % of infected people below the age of 60 are expected to die while on
average 50 % of those aged over 60 will do so?

3. What truth is there in the suggestion that, because of spending cuts, the EU Member States now have
less capacity than before for teaching and research relating to the occurrence of new diseases which are
difficult to control? Are we dependent on interested experts who are tackling this subject because it is
topical, although it lies outside their normal field?

Is it possible that a disease comparable to SARS might arise as a result of a combination of avian
4.
influenza, which has already killed one person and caused inflammations of the eye in others in the
Netherlands, with flu? What is the likelihood of SARS combining with one of the variants of the flu virus
and then spreading more widely?

Are measures to control SARS currently concentrating on reception of patients by setting up

5.
quarantine wards in hospitals and preparing respirators for use?

Following the Commission’s consultations with the Director-General and Director for Europe of the
the impression was gained that SARS would

6.
World Health Organisation (WHO) on 6 May 2003,
inevitably again be brought into Europe and would then spread there. Is this correct?

(2004/C 11 E/236)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1659/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(19 May 2003)

Subject: Persistent danger that SARS may be imported by air passengers due to lack of checks and selection

upon arrival in EU Member States

Is the Commission aware that, because international air travel has increased substantially in recent
1.
decades,
it can help to spread new infectious diseases around the world far more quickly than, for
example, the notorious 1918 flu epidemic, which killed many people, was able to spread? How likely is it
that SARS could combine with a flu virus?

2.
Does the Commission accept that conflicts of interest exist between international trade, which stands
to gain from free movement of persons without delays, and efforts to control dangerous diseases which
occur internationally and may make it desirable for people who could be infected to be temporarily
isolated from the rest of the community at the earliest possible stage?