CELEX: 51995PC0209
Language: en
Date: 1995-05-30
Title: Amended proposal for a EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION adopting a programme of Community action on the prevention of AIDS and certain other communicable diseases within the framework for action in the field of public health

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
   *     it
     +*+
                                               Brussels, 30.05.1995
                                                COM(95)209 final
                                                95/0222 (COD)
                              Amended proposal for a
            EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION
     adopting a programme of Community action on the
prevention of AIDS and certain other communicable diseases
within the framework for action in the field of public health
            (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                                of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                     EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
The initial proposal for a European Parliament and Council decision adopting a
programme of Community action on the prevention of AIDS and certain other
communicable diseases, presented by the Commission, was adopted by the
Commission on 9 November 1994.
The Economic and Social Committee 1 and the Committee of the Regions 2
delivered favourable opinions concerning the Commission's initial proposal.
Following the opinion delivered by the European Parliament at the first reading
on 27 April 1995, the Commission now presents, pursuant to Article 189a of the
Treaty, an amended proposal for a decision. The text basically contains two types
of amendments:
        some which usefully clarify or add further detail to the initial proposal;
        others which reinforce the proposal, in the sense of providing for more
        marked Community action in certain areas of prevention identified as
        priority areas by the European Parliament.
The European Parliament adopted 61 amendments at its vote on 27 April 1995,
J3 of which are totally or partially acceptable to the Commission (2, 64, 4, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 1 1, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 28, 31, 32, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 65,
42, 50, 56, 58, 60, 61).
Plenary session of 29 and 30 March 1995
Plenary session of 20 and 21 April 1995
                                         A.
 ---pagebreak--- However, three categories of amendments are not acceptable to the Commission:
a)   amendments raising problems which should be dealt with either
     "horizontally" in all the programmes proposed or implemented by the
     Commission, or "vertically" in other health-related programmes (1, 17,*21,
     29, 30, 52, 55, 63);
b)   amendments whose content lies outside the legislative framework or
     outside the scope of the programme for the prevention of AIDS and
     certain other communicable diseases, which are inconsistent with the
     content of the Commission communication accompanying the programme,
     or which introduce elements which may make the programme more
     difficult to implement (22, 34, 36, 49, 51, 62, 66);
c)   amendments proposing a form of words which is less flexible and more
     narrow than that proposed by the Commission, or introducing elements
     which already feature in the proposed decision either implicitly or at a
     more appropriate point (5, 12, 20, 26, 33, 43, 46, 47, 48, 53, 54, 57, 59).
                                     L
 ---pagebreak---                      Amended proposal for a
          EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION
   adopting a programme of Community action on the
prevention of AIDS and certain other communicable diseases
within the framework for action in the field of public health
                        *
 ---pagebreak---              COM (94i 413 final                             Amended proposal
 THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
 UNION,
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing
the European Community, and in
 particular Article 129 thereof,
 Having regard to the proposal from the
Commission0*,                             ,
Having regard to the opinion of the
Economic and Social Committee(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the
Committee of the Regions(3),
 1.       Whereas the prevention of diseases,    1.     Whereas the prevention of diseases,
in particular the major health scourges,        in particular the major health scourges,
including drug dependence, is a priority        including drug dependence, is a priority
for Community action, requiring a global        for Community action, requiring an
and coordinated approach between                integrated and coordinated approach
Member States;                                  between Member States;
2.        Whereas AIDS is at present an         2.      Whereas AIDS is at present an
incurable disease which, given its modes        incurable disease regarded a;> a major
of transmission, can only be effectively        scourge, to combat which coordinated
combated by preventive measures;                action is required in the areas both of
                                                therapeutical research and prevention ;
                                                2b (new)
                                                Whereas AIDS is a phenomenon that
                                                poses a dilemma not only for those parts
                                                of human relationships of most intimate
                                                concern to individuals, but also for modes
                                                of collective behaviour; whereas its
                                                implications extend to the law and the
                                                economy, to politics, public health,
                                                education and culture, as well as to
                                                medicine, sociology and research;
   OJ ii* ..
  OJ n* ..
   OJ n* ..
                                              H
 ---pagebreak---   3.       Whereas the plan of action adopted
  by Decision 91/317/EEC of the Council
  and the Ministers for health of the
  Member States, meeting within the
  Council(4), in the framework of the
  "Europe against AIDS" programme
  expired at the end of 1993;
  4.       Whereas, in their conclusions of     4.     Whereas the "Europe against
  27 May 1993(5), the Council and the           AIDS" programme has been prolonged up
 Ministers for Health, meeting within the       to 1995 bv decision of the European
  Council, emphasised the need to continue      Parliament and the Council of 22.12.1994;
 the activities of the "Europe against AIDS"
 programme;
  5.       Whereas, in consequence, the         Delete
 Commission submitted to the Council on
 29 September 1993 a Proposal for a
 Decision concerning the extension to the
 end of 1994 of the 1991-1993 plan of
 action adopted in the framework of the
 "Europe against AIDS" programme^, to
 ensure continuation of the Community
 actions to combat AIDS pending the
 adoption of a multiannual action
 programme; whereas the Council adopted
on 2 June 1994 a common position
concerning that proposal(7), with a view to
extending the "Europe against AIDS"
programme to the period 1994-1995;
(
  " O J WL175, 4.07.1991, p. 26
'" Doc. 6946/93 SAN 36
!n
   ' COM(93) 453 final of 2909.1993
!7
   ' OJ N' C213, 3.08.1994, p. 220
                                              r
 ---pagebreak---  6.      Whereas, in its conclusions of         6.        Whereas the Council, in its
  13 December 1993(8), the Council agreed       conclusions of 13 December 1993(9) and
 that it was necessary for the Community        Parliament, in its resolutions of 26 May
 as a whole to acquire a better knowledge       1989(10). 15 Mav 1991(11)and 19 November
 of diseases on the basis of their causes and   1993(12) took the view that it was essential
 their epidemiological context;                to acquire a better knowledge of diseases
                                               on the basis of their causes and their
                                               epidemiological context; and whereas,
                                               accordingly, the two institutions have
                                               called on the Commission to submit
                                               proposals for the setting up of an
                                               epidemiological network in the European
                                               Community:
7.       Whereas, in the same conclusions,     7.        Whereas the Council           and
the Council emphasized that the smooth         Parliament emphasized that the smooth
running of a network for gathering             running of a network for gathering
epidemiological       data requires that       epidemiological data requires that the
theoretical training in epidemiology and       comparability and compatibility of data be
practical preparation in epidemiology in      ensured and that theoretical training in
the field be developed for the teams          epidemiology and practical preparation in
participating in the network;                 epidemiology in the field be developed for
                                              the teams participating in the network;
                                              7b (new)
                                              Whereas the European Community can
                                              make a major contribution towards the
                                              organization of exchanges of experience
                                              and the dissemination of information with
                                              regard to the specific training of health
                                              professionals and the information of all the
                                              social players involved, such as teachers,
                                              families, authorities and heads of
                                              undertakings;
   OJ N° CI5. 18.01.1994. p. 6                "'OJ N* CI5, 18.01.1994, p. 6
                                              ,10
                                                 'OJ NT CI58. 26.06.1989, p. 477
                                              " " O J N * CI58. 17.06.1991. p. 45
                                               121
                                                   OJ N° C329. 6.12.1993. p. 375
 ---pagebreak---   8.        Whereas in their resolution of
   13 November 1992(13), the Council and the
  Ministers for Health meeting within the
  Council invited the Commission to
  consider the existing arrangements which
  provide for cooperation between member
  States in the field of monitoring and
  control of communicable diseases;
  9.        Whereas the actions undertaken at      9.     Whereas the actions undertaken at
  Community level in the field of AIDS             Community level in the field of AIDS
  need to be continued and extended to             need to be continued and extended to
  cover certain other communicable diseases,       cover certain other communicable diseases,
  and also to be consolidated within the           in particular sexually transmissible
  framework of the action in the field of          diseases fSTDs\ and also to be
  public health           set out by the          consolidated within the framework of the
  Commission(14);                                 action in the field of public health set out
                                                  by the Commission(,7) and in Chapter VII
                                                  of the White Paper on social policy(18);
  10.       Whereas the actions must take into
  account, as the Council requested in its
  Resolution of 27 May 1993(15), other
 actions undertaken by the Community in
 the field of public health or having an
 impact on public health;
  11.      Wrhereas in its Resolution of 2 June
  1994 concerning the framework for
 Community action in the field of public
 health(16), the Council agreed that priority
 should be given at present to AIDS and
 other communicable diseases;
                                                  lp)
lM                                                    COM(93) 559 final of 24.11.1993
     ' OJ N* C 326, 11.12.1992, p. 1              "*' COM(94) 333 final of 27.07.1994
l! n
       COM(93) 559 final of 24.11.1993
• "' OJ N* C 174, 25.06.1993. p. 1
 (!,,)
       OJ N* C 165. 17.06.1994, p. 1
                                                ?
 ---pagebreak---  12.     Whereas, in accordance with the
 principle of subsidiarity, actions on matters
 not within the exclusive competence of the
 Community, such as action on HIV/AIDS
 and communicable diseases, should be
undertaken by the Community only when,
by reason of its scale or effects, its
objectives can be better achieved at
Community level;
                                                12b (new)
                                               Whereas it is necessary to promote studies
                                               in the Member States to identify the most
                                               effective methods of prevention and to
                                               publish the most significant results of this
                                               work;
 13.    Whereas cooperation with the            13.    Whereas cooperation with non-
competent international organisations and      member countries is essential for
with non-member countries should be            combating these scourges                and
strengthened;                                  consequently    cooperation     with the
                                               competent international       organisations
                                               should be strengthened;
 14.    Whereas a multiannual programme         14.    Whereas a multiannual programme
is required, defining the objectives of        is required, defining the objectives of
Community action, the priority actions for     Community action and the priority actions
the prevention of AIDS and other               for the prevention of AIDS and other
communicable         diseases,     and    the  communicable diseases, in particular
appropriate evaluation mechanisms;             STDs. ensuring the coherence and
                                               continuity of the actions already
                                               undertaken, and receiving appropriate
                                               funding and benefiting from transparent
                                               evaluation mechanisms;
 ---pagebreak---  15.      Whereas the objectives of this        15.    Whereas the objectives of this
programme must be to contribute towards        programme must be to contribute towards
improving knowledge concerning the             stemming the spread of AIDS and other
prevalence and patterns of HIV/AIDS and        communicable diseases in the Community
other communicable diseases, improving         by improving knowledge concerning their
recognition of risk situations and             prevalence and patterns, improving
improving early detection and social and       recognition of risk situations and practices
medical support, with a view to preventing     and improving early detection and social,
the transmission of communicable diseases      health and medical support, with a view to
and thus reducing the associated mortality     preventing the transmission of AIDS and
and morbidity;                                 other communicable diseases and thus
                                               reducing the associated mortality and
                                               morbidity as well as combating all forms
                                               of discrimination against people suffering
                                               from AIDS or infected with the HIV virus;
16.       Whereas, from an operational point
of view, past actions to establish European
n e t w o r k s of    non-governmental
organisations and to mobilize resources
should be maintained and developed;
                                               16b (new)
                                               Whereas it is essential to support actions
                                               aimed at combating all forms of
                                               discrimination affecting people living with
                                               HIV and AIDS, as well as initiatives
                                               aimed at improving their living conditions;
                                             5
 ---pagebreak---  17.    Whereas possible duplication of        17.     Whereas possible duplication of
effort should be avoided by the promotion      effort should be avoided by the promotion
of exchanges of experience and by the          of exchanges of experience and by the
development of information material for        development of information material for
the public, health educators and those who    the public, health educators and those who
train the health professions;                 train the health professions, and for non-
                                              governmental organizations other than
                                              patients' associations;
18.     Whereas this programme should be
of five-year duration in order to allow
sufficient time for the various actions to be
implemented and to achieve the objectives
set;
                                               18b (new)
                                              Whereas access to this programme should
                                              be facilitated, with especial stress on
                                              reaching organizations which lack means
                                              of easy access to information on
                                              Community programmes;
                                              18c (new)
                                              Whereas the procedures for granting
                                              financial aid should be simple and
                                              accessible, and there should be guarantees
                                              of the total transparency of these
                                              procedures and the relevant controls;
                                              18d (new)
                                              Whereas this decision establishes, for the
                                              total duration of the programme, a total
                                              appropriation which constitutes the key
                                              reference, within the meaning of point 1 of
                                              the statement of the European Parliament,
                                              the Council and the Commission of
                                              6 March 1995. for the budgetary authority
                                              within the framework of the annual budget
                                              procedure;
                                            M
 ---pagebreak--- HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1:       A Community         action
programme on AIDS and certain other
communicable diseases is adopted for a
five-year period.
Article 2:       The Commission shall
ensure implementation of the actions set
out in the Annex in accordance with
Article 5 and in close cooperation and
partnership with the Member States. The
institutions and organizations active in the
field of the prevention of AIDS and other
communicable diseases shall take part in
them as well.
Article 3:       The budgetary authority        Article 3
shall     determine the      appropriations     1.      The total appropriation for the
available for each financial year.              implementation of this programme for the
                                                period referred to in Article 1 shall be
                                                MECU 49.6;
                                                2.      The annual appropriations shall be
                                                authorized by the budgetary authority
                                                within the limit of the financial
                                                perspective;
Article 4:       The Commission shall           Article 4
ensure that there is a consistency and          The Commission shall ensure that there is
complementarity between the Community           consistency and complementarity between
actions to be implemented under this            the actions to be implemented under this
programme and those implemented under           programme and those implemented under
other relevant Community programmes             other relevant Community programmes
and initiatives.                                and initiatives, including the programme of
                                                research in the field of biomedicine and
                                                health under the Community's framework
                                                research programme, and Community
                                                 action in developing countries;
                                             41
 ---pagebreak---  Article 5
 For the implementation of the programme
 the Commission shall be assisted by an
 Advisory Committee, hereinafter referred
to as "the Committee", comprising two
 representatives from each Member State
and chaired         by a Commission
representative.
The representative of the Commission
shall submit to the Committee a draft of
the measures to be taken. The Committee
shall deliver its opinion on the draft,
within a time limit which the chairman
may lay down according to the urgency of
the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.
The opinion shall be recorded in the
minutes; in addition, each member State
shall have the right to ask to have its
position recorded in the minutes.
The Commission shall take the utmost
account of the opinion delivered by the
Committee. It shall inform the Committee
on the manner in which its opinion has
been taken into account.
Article 6
 1.     The Community will encourage          Article 6
cooperation with third countries and with
international public health organizations, in
particular the World Health Organizations.
 ---pagebreak--- 2.       The EFT A countries, in the          2.      This plan shall be open to
framework of the EEA Agreement, and the       participation by the associated countries of
countries from Central and Eastern Europe     Central and Eastern Europe in accordance
with whom the Community has concluded         with the conditions laid down in the
association agreements, may be associated     additional protocols to the association
with the activities described in the Annex,   agreements to be concluded with these
according to the provisions of those          countries relating to participation in
agreements.                                   Community programmes. The plan shall
                                              also be open to participation by Cyprus
                                              and Malta on the basis of additional
                                              appropriations under the same rules as
                                              those applied to the EFT A countries, in
                                              accordance with the procedures to be
                                              agreed with these countries;
Article 7                                     Article 7
1.      The Commission will regularly         1.      The Commission will regularly
publish information on the actions            publish a report on the progress of the
undertaken      and    opportunities    for   programme and on the Community
Community support in the various fields of    funding in the various fields of action. The
action.                                       report will be communicated to the
                                              European Parliament, the Council, the
                                              Economic and Social Committee and the
                                              Committee of the Regions;
2.      The Commission will submit to the
European Parliament, the Council, the
Economic and Social Committee, and the
Committee of the Regions a mid-term
report on the actions undertaken, as well
as an overall report at the end of the
programme.
                                            3
 ---pagebreak--- Annex
Community         action    programme
concerning the prevention of AIDS and
other communicable diseases
I.      Actions on HIV/AIDS and
        sexually transmitted diseases
A.     Data collection
1.     Exploration with Member States of      1.     Exploration with Member States of
ways to increase and improve AIDS and        ways to increase the quantity and improve
HIV data at the Community level, and         the quality, comparability and availability
provide support to strengthen the work of    of data, and to provide support to
the national epidemiological surveillance    strengthen the national surveillance
systems and the European Centre for the      systems and the European Centre for the
Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS.          Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS, with
                                             regard to infection by HIV and connected
                                             diseases;
                                              1 a (new)
                                             Contribution towards improving the quality
                                             and     coordination       of   national
                                             epidemiological monitoring systems, and
                                             participation in the development of
                                             surveillance networks, on the basis of
                                             jointly-defined     methodologies      and
                                             conditions for data transmission, prior
                                             consultation and coordination of replies;
                                          '*
 ---pagebreak---                                                 lb (new)
                                               Setting up of a Community network of
                                               public health epidemiologists for the
                                               purpose of defining common surveillance
                                               methods and tools and enhancing the
                                               ability to respond in a coordinated wav to
                                               the development of communicable
                                               diseases, especially in the case of epidemic
                                               outbreaks;
2.      Gathering,       analysis     and      2.      Promotion of initiatives to verify
dissemination of information concerning        and disseminate existing information on
preventive measures and the knowledge,         the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of
attitudes and behaviour of the general         the general public and of certain target
public and target groups; promotion of the     groups with regard to HIV/AIDS and
development and use of measures for            STDs. and on the preventive measures
assessing effectiveness and new surveys        taken in the European Community;
where existing information is inadequate,      devising of new Eurobarometer surveys on
including Eurobarometer surveys.               changes in behaviour patterns in response
                                               to AIDS;
                                               2 a (new)
                                               Collection, analysis and promotion of the
                                               dissemination of information concerning
                                               preventive measures; promotion of the
                                               development and use of evaluation
                                               methods for determining the effectiveness
                                               of preventive measures and information
                                               campaigns aimed at the general public and
                                               target groups;
                                           \C~
 ---pagebreak---  B.      Measures for children and young
         people
 3.      Encouragement of initiatives to    3.      Examination and evaluation of
 ascertain and disseminate information      present practices as regards the
about children's and young people's         dissemination of information within and
knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in       outside official structures such as schools.
relation to HIV/AIDS and STDs, to           sports clubs and training centres;
examine current practice in providing them  promotion of exchanges of materials and
with information both within and outside   of teaching and training methods, and
formal settings such as schools and        support for pilot projects aimed in
training institutions and to promote the   particular at groups of young people
exchange of educational and training       lacking a formal structure; to this end,
material, and the setting up of pilot      development of exchanges of educational
projects and networks.                     and training materials suited to every stage
                                           of the individual's development, and
                                           support for pilot projects aimed in
                                           particular at groups of young people
                                           lacking a formal educational structure
C.       Prevention of HIV and STD
         transmission
4.       Examination and exchanges of      4.      Examination and exchange of
information on problems and situations     information concerning the problems and
related to groups at risk (drug users, sex situations especially of persons at greatest
workers, homosexuals and bisexuals), risk  risk of contamination (recipients of
situations (mobile populations and border  multiple blood transfusions! persons
areas, penal institutions); and modes of   engaging in high-risk behaviour (injection
transmission; exchange of experience on    of drugs, prostitution, unsafe sexual
harm-reduction measures and preventive     practices, etc.). or persons in particular
actions; and promotion of appropriate      circumstances (prisoners, the military,
preventive measures and of pilot projects. tourists, migrants and frontier dwellers,
                                           and concerning modes of transmission;
                                           exchange of experience on prevention
                                           campaigns and measures aimed at reducing
                                           risks; promotion of appropriate preventive
                                           measures and pilot projects;
 ---pagebreak---                                               4 a (new)
                                              Exchanges of information concerning
                                              messages and the promotion of appropriate
                                              measures to disseminate            effective
                                              messages aimed at the general public,
                                              notably through campaigns to inform,
                                              educate and raise the awareness of the
                                              general public on means of protecting
                                              themselves against the risk of transmission
                                              via sex, the problems which these means
                                              pose, and the use of such means;
5.      Promotion of information, advice
and counselling to pregnant women who
may be at risk of transmitting HIV to their
babies; exchange of views and experience
on screening pregnant women; and co-
ordination of research on minimizing
mother-child transmission.
                                            T
 ---pagebreak---  D.     Social and psychological support
        and combating discrimination
6.      Exchanges of experience and           6.      Exchanges of experience and
information      concerning models of         information     concerning     models of
assistance and support, including the         assistance and support for those with HIV,
particular difficulties facing families with  those with AIDS and their families and
infected members, and concerning policies     friends. Promotion of studies, pilot projects
and practices on screening and                and actions on the psvcho-social aspects of
discriminatory situations, promotion of      HIV/AIDS. Preparation and distribution of
analyses and pilot projects on the psycho-   bulletins and directories containing up-to-
social aspects of the disease, and the       date information on the organizations
setting up of networks of organizations      providing information and assistance;
providing information and assistance.        encouragement of networks of associations
                                             dispensing information and psycho-social
                                             assistance. Analysis of existing or potential
                                             discriminatory situations. Establishment of
                                             a record of the measures taken by the
                                             Member States to combat all forms of
                                             discrimination, especially in housing,
                                             insurance, lending, housing, education and
                                             health care. Exchange of information and
                                             experience in this field, particularly as
                                             regards policy and practice concerning
                                             HIV tests;
 ---pagebreak---  II.     Specific Community measures
         for    certain      communicable
         diseases
A.       Actions related to vaccination
7.       Support for initiatives designed to
produce information on levels of
vaccination cover in the Community,
especially among children, at-risk groups
and persons living in certain risk
situations, against communicable diseases
preventable by vaccination; promotion of
initiatives designed to improve the
vaccination cover of the general public,
and especially of at-risk groups and
persons living in certain risk situations;
encouragement of measures designed to
match vaccination schedules to the
epidemiological context.
B.       Creation and development of
         networks
         1°.    Surveillance
8.       Contribute to improving the quality
of Member States' surveillance systems,
taking into account the views of servers
and users, and assist in the development of
networks, based on agreed methodologies
and conditions of transmission of
information,     prior consultation and
coordination of responses.
                                             13
 ---pagebreak--- 9.      Promote knowledge and exchanges
of experience on the ways in which
surveillance     results of nosocomial
infections are analysed, processed and
used by the actors in the field, and
encourage actions to increase awareness of
the problems and inclusion of comparable
and reliable data on nosocomial infections
in routine surveys concerning hospital
conditions, and support the creation of
new surveillance networks for such
infections.
2°.     Dissemination of epidemiological
        information
10.     Contribute, in particular by the
provision of the logistical support
necessary, to the production and
dissemination of a regular information
notice and of a European Community
bulletin on communicable diseases
surveillance, comprising both routine
surveillance data and reports on specific
investigations.
C.      Information,     education     and
        training
1 1.     Encouragement      of    exchanges     11-    Evaluation of the impact of
between Member States on information           information campaigns on sexually
campaigns at all levels, development of        transmissible diseases and their prevention,
ways of linking and             reinforcing    taking account of assessment findings;
campaigns, such as provision of specific       encouragement of exchanges between
materials; utilisation of telephone and        member States on information campaigns
other response mechanisms, and                 at all levels, development, of ways of
development and promotion of activities to     linking and reinforcing campaigns in the
complement national efforts, including the     Community, such as provision of specific
setting up of networks and the exchange of     materials; utilisation of telephone and
experience and expertise.                      other response mechanisms,               and
                                               development and promotion of activities to
                                               complement national efforts, including the
                                               setting up or strengthening of networks
                                               and the exchange of experience and
                                               expertise.
                                            1©
 ---pagebreak---  12.    Examination of current training       12.     Studies and exchanges of
programmes for health and other              experience concerning the training given to
professionals, and for those whose work      health professionals and persons who, by
brings them into contact with certain        virtue of their work, are in contact with
communicable diseases; identification of     certain communicable diseases or who can
weaknesses and gaps, and devising and        act to prevent such diseases, including
promotion of new further training            persons employed to provide social and
opportunities and programmes.                psychological counselling to HIV-positive
                                             persons and their families and friends with
                                             a view to identifying, the weaknesses and
                                             gaps and helping to develop and promote
                                             new further        training   programmes
                                             especially in the field of epidemiology;
                                             promotion of exchanges among the health
                                             professionals involved and of experiences
                                             in this area.
 13.    Improvement of public health
practices with regard to the routine
surveillance of infectious diseases and
epidemic     outbreaks whenever and
wherever these occur in the Community;
development of a Community network of
public health epidemiologists with a view
to defining common methods and tools
and enhancing the capacity for coordinated
response.
                                           M
 ---pagebreak--- D.      Early detection and systematic          D.      Early detection and screening
        screening
14.     Promotion of investigations on the
effectiveness and feasibility of screening
for certain types of communicable diseases
(tuberculosis, hepatitis, etc.).
15.     Support for the training of health      15.     Support for the training of health
personnel, in particular in the context of      personnel, in particular in the context of
early detection and systematic screening of     early detection and screening of
communicable diseases; cost-benefit             communicable diseases; cost-benefit
analysis of screening for different types of    analysis of screening for different types of
communicable disease, in particular among       communicable disease, in particular among
pregnant women.                                 pregnant women.
                                             Hb
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                     ISSN 0254-1475
                                                             COM(95) 209 final
                                               DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                             05
                                     Catalogue number : CB-CO-95-234-EN-C
                                                              ISBN 92-77-89198-X
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