Communication chief: the EU has learnt from bird flu

EU co-operation in communicating health risks should be welcomed by member states, according to the director-general of the European Commission's communication department Claus Haugaard Sørensen.

Sørensen on Friday (7 July) will present the lessons learnt about working together since the first bird flu outbreak on the EU borders was detected in Romania last October.

The Commission quickly realised Europe was not prepared to deal with a crisis at that time, explained Sørensen. "We didn't have the phone numbers for the right people in member states; we didn't know who was in charge. We had no common database of information."

Communication problems did not just flow one way. Member states were unsure which department of the Commission was dealing with bird flu, according to the director-general.

In the months following this and subsequent outbreaks, conflicting messages from the Commission, member states, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) led to widespread confusion, Sørensen admitted. "We did not get the facts out clearly and quickly enough.

"It is not useful to have a debate going on for ages if you know the most prudent course of action. You have to live with a certain uncertainty but you cannot stop communicating because you are thinking."

Now, said Sørensen, all the actors were working together and were capable of providing timely and full information. "Honest facts are the best vaccination against panic and rumour," he said.

The communication department itself is ready to be the first port of call for national authorities wondering where to look and what to think. Sørensen said that his department had built up a network of experts and national authorities to help Europe understand risk.

The risk communication network could be extended to other areas of concern, from consumer safety to facts about organised crime and security risks, said Sørensen.

"Problems in our society are transnational. We need to get relaxed and realistic about the need to have models that match that challenge...if we are not going to harmonise views we at least have to compare notes."

But the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) said that the problem was more complicated than just getting the Commission, governments, EFSA and the ECDC to agree a message before speaking.

"There is also the problem of cultural background in a 25-country EU," said Anne Hoel of EPHA. "I'm not sure you would want to give the same advice to the Swedish as you'd give to the French or Spanish."

Cypriot Left MEP Adamos Adamou warned that the Commission's efforts would all be in vain unless it won more support from member states.

"The Commission and [Health Commissioner Markos] Kyprianou have already done a lot...but the latest reports show that only 50% of member states are prepared to deal with a bird flu crisis."

The Netherlands, Sweden and Slovakia are said to be blocking the idea of a central anti-viral stockpile and the idea of a billion-euro solidarity fund to spend in the event of a flu pandemic has also failed to get the unanimous support required.

"This is a big mistake. In the event of an outbreak the whole budget of the EU will not be enough to protect us," said Adamou.

EU co-operation in communicating health risks should be welcomed by member states, according to the director-general of the European Commission's communication department Claus Haugaard Sørensen.