- case definition
means a set of commonly agreed diagnostic criteria that have to be fulfilled in order to accurately identify cases of a serious cross-border threat to health in a given population, while excluding the detection of unrelated threats;
- communicable disease
means an infectious disease caused by a contagious agent which is transmitted from person to person by direct contact with an infected individual or by indirect means such as exposure to a vector, animal, fomite, product or environment, or exchange of fluid, which is contaminated with the contagious agent;
- contact tracing
means measures to identify persons who have been exposed to a source of a serious cross-border threat to health, and who are in danger of being infected or being infectious or who have developed a communicable disease, through manual or other technological means, with the sole objective of rapidly identifying potentially newly infected persons who may have come into contact with existing cases, in order to reduce further onward transmission;
- epidemiological surveillance
means the systematic collection, recording, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of data and analysis on communicable diseases and related special health issues;
- Health in All Policies
means an approach to the development, implementation and review of public policies, regardless of the sector, whereby the health implications of decisions are taken into account, and which seeks to achieve synergies and to avoid harmful health impacts being caused by such policies, in order to improve the health of the population and health equity;
- health system capacity
means the degree to which a health system maximizes its performance on the following six health system core components or building blocks: (i) service delivery, (ii) health workforce, (iii) health information systems, (iv) access to medical countermeasures, (v) financing, and (vi) leadership/governance;
- International Health Regulations
means the International Health Regulations (IHR) adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2005;
- medical countermeasures
means medicinal products for human use as defined in Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, medical devices as defined in point 12 of this Article and other goods or services that are necessary for the purpose of preparedness for and response to serious cross-border threats to health;
- medical device
means both a medical device as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council, read in conjunction with Article 1(2) and Article 1(6), point (a), of that Regulation, and an in vitro diagnostic medical device as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Regulation (EU) 2017/746 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- monitoring
means the continuous observation, detection or review of changes in a condition, in a situation, or in activities, including a continuous function that uses systematic collection of data on and analysis of specified indicators relating to serious cross-border threats to health;
- One Health
means a multi-sectoral approach which recognises that human health is connected to animal health and to the environment, and that actions to tackle threats to health must take into account those three dimensions;
- public health measure
means a decision or an action which is aimed at preventing, monitoring or controlling the spread of diseases or contamination, combatting severe risks to public health or mitigating their impact on public health;
- serious cross-border threat to health
means a life-threatening or otherwise serious hazard to health of biological, chemical, environmental or unknown origin, as referred to in Article 2(1), which spreads or entails a significant risk of spreading across the national borders of Member States, and which may necessitate coordination at Union level in order to ensure a high level of human health protection;