UNITED4Surveillance hosted a successful site visit with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on 29 & 30 January 2025. Insights into the results of UNITED4Surveillance so far have sparked a lively discussion about the common challenges encountered in infectious disease surveillance. Legal and privacy barriers present a widespread challenge faced by all Member States and addressing them should be prioritized to improve preparedness for cross-border health threats. Potential solutions were proposed by UNITED4Surveillance, such as providing trainings for (public) health professionals on legal aspects, establishing more robust networks of legal experts complemented with public health experts, and enhancing guidance on national and European (EU) level for data sharing with a public health aim. Yoline Kuipers, the policy officer for cross-border health threats at the European Commission, provided more detailed information on the ongoing work at EU level regarding the implementing acts for epidemiological surveillance (Article 13) and the digital platform for surveillance (Article 14) within the EU Health Security Framework. To enhance the collaboration between UNITED4Surveillance and ECDC, we have developed plans to facilitate more frequent interactions among data scientists, training professionals, and One Health experts in the remainder of the Joint Action UNITED4Surveillance.
