Health experts have sent a warning shot to Boris Johnson over claims he will pull Britain out of the EU's pandemic warning system.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/coronavirus-health-experts-hit-out-21613826
Downing Street has reportedly rejected pleas to keep the EU's Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) after Brexit - despite the Coronavirus outbreak. The online platform has existed for 22 years to let health chiefs exchange rapid information about "serious cross-border threats to health".
But according to the Daily Telegraph, No10 has rejected pleas to keep it as part of a trade deal - despite even a Department of Health official lobbying for access. A source told the newspaper: "The Department of Health pitched for continued access to the EWRS to be an objective of the negotiations.
"But it was blocked because they didn't want to be accused of seeking more than the basic Canada deal." Public Health England's emeritus medical director, Paul Cosford, today sent a diplomatically-worded warning shot to the government - by saying the EWRS was "useful" and "important".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There’s a whole range of different mechanisms that we use for communicating internationally. "Through the World Health Organisation, with colleagues in EU countries, with colleagues in countries that are not in the EU, with colleagues in the G7 and so on. "The EWRS, it's an early warning system, is a mechanism for communicating between countries in the EU but it's also also used with countries outside the EU...
"We are still part of that at this stage. And we do find it useful."It's one of the many mechanisms. Of course from where I sit, whatever mechanisms we have to communicate about illnesses such as this are important to us. "But we'll be having those discussions as we go through planning for the next phase, in terms of our position with respect to the EU." The NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals and NHS bodies, warned a month ago that quitting the EWRS could heighten the risk from a pandemic. The organisation's Brexit Health Alliance issued a five-page briefing paper saying participation in the EWRS should be a "priority" in trade talks.
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