List of international projects organized and/or participated by HCDCP

Project title: Cross-border Research Centre «Environment and Health» (RCEH)

Participation of the Regional Laboratory for Public Health of “Eastern Macedonia and Thrace” in the European Territorial Cooperation Program between Bulgaria and Greece, 2007-2013.

Episouth Project

The countries of the Mediterranean area have common sea borders in the remarkable ecosystem of the Mediterranean Sea and, as a result, they also share common public health problems. In 2006, the EpiSouth Project was started as a framework for collaboration for communicable diseases surveillance and training in the Mediterranean Basin. Until today, 27 countries from southern Europe, the Balkans, North Africa and the Middle-East are members of EpiSouth and several international organizations and institutions collaborate: the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the European Commission (EC), Health and Social Policies and the World Health Organization (WHO). The project is coordinated by the Italian national public health institute and three work packages (WPs). Cross-border epidemic intelligence, vaccine preventable diseases and migrants and Cross-border emerging zoonoses are operated by the national institutes of France, Bulgaria and Greece. These WPs constitute technical pillars on which the project develops.

Networking and training are WPs dedicated to capacity building and are run by the Padua Teaching Hospital (Italy) and the Spanish national public health institute. A steering committee guides EpiSouth’s activities while all countries collaborate through WP steering teams and focal points. A number of outcomes have been accomplished and documents with results are available from the EpiSouth website www.episouth.org which hosts a public website and a restricted area for direct sharing of information among the participants.

Overall, the network succeeded in creating cohesion, mutual trust and concrete collaboration on cross-border public health issues in a geographical area that is not addressed as a whole by any other initiative or organization.

European funding programs

The Hellenic Center for Disease Control & Prevention, in line with the Thematic Priority Axis 5 “Establishment of Reform in the Mental Health Sector – Development of Primary Healthcare and Promotion of Public Health” of the operational program “Human Resources Development” 2007-2013, implements the following actions.

Second program of the European Union in the field of Health (2008-2013): “ICT PSP Work Programme 2012”

The “ICT PSP Work Programme 2012” defines the priorities for calls for proposals, calls for tender and other supporting actions to be launched in 2012.

For further information relating to this programme, please refer to the CIP ICT Policy.

Support Programme web site at http://ec.europa.eu/ict_psp.