The EU is to set up an equivalent to the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), after coming under criticism about Europe\u2019s inability to swiftly seal advance purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccines. The plan was announced on September 16 by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in her first State of the Union address since coming into office at the start of 2020. The new agency will support capacity and readiness to respond to cross-border health threats and emergencies, \u201cwhether of natural or deliberate origin,\u201d she said. At this stage, there are no details about funding or governance of European BARDA, but Von der Leyen said it will build strategic stockpiles to protect against supply chain interruptions, notably for pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a set piece speech to the European Parliament, Von der Leyen, a medical doctor, said COVID-19 has exposed \u201cthe fragility all around us\u201d and laid bare \u201cthe strain in our health systems.\u201d In response, she is calling for the European Commission (EC) to have more influence over health, an area where currently member states hold \u2013 and fiercely defend \u2013 all responsibility. In addition to the BARDA lookalike, Von der Leyen said she wants the EU to \u201creinforce and empower\u201d the EMA and the European Center for Disease prevention and Control. She also took aim at the World Health Organization (WHO), saying it needs reform, but that this should be \u201cchange by design \u2013 not by destruction,\u201d adding, \u201cI want the EU to lead reforms of \u2026 WHO so [it is] fit for today’s world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: BioWorld<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The EU is to set up an equivalent to the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), after coming under criticism about Europe\u2019s inability to swiftly seal advance purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccines. The plan was announced on September 16 by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in her first State of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gezondheid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n