Thursday 23 September 2010, European Parliament, Brussels

The PHLawFlu project, funded by the European Union (DG SANCO) from November 2007 to October 2010, examined the role of law in public health, and in particular the role of national European laws, in supporting and constraining the control of and protection against pandemic human influenza in 32 European states. Law is an essential tool for the protection against and control of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. This conference presented the project findings to an audience of persons working in the fields of law and public health both within Europe and globally, and called upon the audience for questions and comments on the issues raised.

The conference was formally opened by Professor Wilhelm Kirch, from the Medical Faculty of Technische Universität Dresden. Professor Richard Coker from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine presented the project findings. Richard’s presentation slides can be found on the EPHLN website, and a more detailed discussion of these findings can be found in the BMC Public Health published article. A panel of experts on law and pandemic influenza (John Ryan, Head of Health Threats Unit, DG SANCO; Bruce Plotkin, Senior Technical Officer (Legal), WHO Geneva; Dr Kaat Vandemaele, Medical Officer, Disease Monitoring, Assessment and Control, WHO Geneva; Dr Scott Greer, Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health and Professor Ralf Reintjes, Professor of Epidemiology and Public health Surveillance, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences) then considered and debated the project outcomes and their implications for European states and for Europe as a whole. The project was favourably received and it was clear that it was considered to be a valuable piece of work that addressed current concerns and raised important questions in the field of pandemic planning. The discussion also provided an opportunity to focus on other concerns and changes: John Ryan summarised the background of European public health legislation and outlined planned changes in the Health Threats Package. Bruce Plotkin spoke on the IHR, addressing in particular the different forms of duties on Member States.

Two rapporteurs participating in the project as both respondees to the project questionnaire and as discussants in the project workshop (Ellen Jones, Legal Advisor, National Board of Health and Welfare of Sweden and Mari Amos, Legal Advisor, Office of the Estonian Chancellor of Justice) spoke about their experiences of working with the project and the value of participation for their roles in advising on issues of public health law in their countries. The project lead, Professor Robyn Martin, built on the conference discussion to consider actions that could be taken to rectify concerns raised by the project findings and to suggest further areas of research. Finally a project collaborator, Mr. drs. George Haringhuizen, Senior Advisor, National Institute for Public health and the Environment of the Netherlands, concluded the conference with a summing up of the issues raised in the presentations and the audience discussion.

There were many outcomes from the PHLawFlu project but the one that raised the greatest interest and concern was the question of capacity in public health law both in Europe and beyond Europe. The PHLawFlu project identified a paucity of knowledge and expertise in national public health laws across the 32 European states studied. A lack of capacity in public health law on the part of policy makers, public health practitioners and lawyers may put at risk the implementation of public health policies such as pandemic preparedness plans and disease control policies, as well as potentially hindering the development and application of coherent Europe-wide policies to address other public health threats to the region. It is essential that states address issues of research and training in public health law to support the formulation of public health policies and the practice of public health.

Details of conference presentations can be found here.

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