Infectious diseases, in Lombardy an agency that looks to the EU

The Agency for the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases “is a unique project”. It was born in Lombardy and is “the first agency to be established in our country” for the preparation and response to health emergencies. “It is a project that Lombardy has presented to the Government. And the Government has classified it as a flag project and has become a national project that wants to be strongly linked to Europe”. With these words, the president of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, and the vice president and councilor for Welfare, Letizia Moratti, today presented the details of the new reality that is taking its first steps in the region, with an eye to the EU. “Europe has an agency called Hera”, Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, “to prepare for any future pandemics”. This European entity “will network the agencies of the individual countries. The Lombardy Region – announces Moratti – has already made contact and we are applying to be one of the agencies connected with Hera”. This, explains the vice-president of Lombardy, “means making a contribution to the development of community policies on the subject of preparation for pandemics and also means being able to access important EU funds through calls, because the EU for the coming years on this project has put in 30 billion euros. The connection with Hera for this agency is extremely important “. HEADQUARTERS AT THE SACCO HOSPITAL IN MILAN – The agency was born with the regional law 22/2021. And, adds Fontana, “it will be established at the Sacco hospital in Milan”, a national reference center for infectious disease emergencies, together with Spallanzani in Rome. “The Lombardy Region will invest 85 million euros. It will be a further manifestation of the attention we give to the health sector and in particular to the prevention of any new epidemics”, underlines Fontana. “It is an agency – highlights the governor – which further strengthens the prevalence that Lombardy has in the life sciences and will be a further stimulus for our researchers, virologists and infectious diseases. The important thing is that it involves all branches that have to do with infectious diseases. The activity of this agency will formally begin immediately, with all the preparatory steps that will be implemented little by little. I thank the vice president “Moratti,” who has always believed in this project and for this project she fought with the utmost determination and managed to convince the Government of the opportunity for this initiative to take place in Milan “. The goal, adds Moratti, “is for the agency to be operational from October 1. It will initially be able to count on a staff of 20”. There are 7 sectors in which it is divided: prevention, clinic, research, health policy, health promotion and defense, governance and partening, and finally teaching, training and education. As for its bodies, the agency will have a Board of Directors of 5 members, 3 designated by the Lombardy Region and one each by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of University and Research. There will then be a general manager, a board of statutory auditors and the scientific director, who is responsible for all the research activity and will be identified with a public selection from professionals with proven scientific and managerial skills. The scientific director will be the coordinator of the agency’s Scientific Technical Committee. THE CONNECTION WITH HERA AND THE EU – “We think we can be one of the national subjects of the network on which Hera intends to rely, because in fact we are structuring ourselves to be one from the point of view of mission and purpose. We will work for this”, explains Moratti . At the national level, the general director of Welfare of the Region, Giovanni Pavesi, intervenes, “the connection is very strong and we worked in agreement with Giuseppe Ippolito”, Research DG of the Ministry of Health, “and the Higher Institute of Health is informed of all the steps taken “. The agency will carry out research, study and preparation of the health system to deal with any new pandemics and health emergencies and will work “in synergy with research centers, universities, public and private entities, with all the structures in the region”, Moratti lists. The project was born from listening to different professionals (Moratti cites in particular the contribution of the immunologist Sergio Abrignani and the infectious disease specialist Andrea Gori) not only in the sector, but also experts in analysis, data and artificial intelligence, veterinary and environmental experts. ONE HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY – The logic is that of ‘One Health’ and in this direction among the agency’s missions there are, for example, proposals for environmental improvement and reduction of zoonosis risks. Training is another aspect on which Moratti emphasizes. The agency will range from topics such as combating antibiotic resistance to technological transfer of research results. And much emphasis will be given to the contribution that can come from the IT world. Moratti cites, for example, the development of epidemiological alert systems: “Let’s think about what happened with Covid – he remembers – We had anomalies in the area of ​​pneumonia, but we were not able to” read them “because we did not have the tools . Lombardy was hit first and there was no evidence, we had no elements to understand. Here, having an alert system of this type will serve to have the ability to read the data in such a way as to understand if there are anomalies and respond with interventions “. Technology will be allied in this. Password: artificial intelligence and machine learning. What is the path that remains to be taken? The Lombard council approved the statute, the organization chart and the headquarters of the agency. “The next steps will be the establishment of the offices in the Sacco, the start of planning thanks to the financing of one million euros already allocated with a resolution in February, the appointment of the Dg, the call for the appointment of the members of the Board of Directors, for the scientific director and for the board of statutory auditors “, says Moratti. The timing, concludes Dg Pavesi, “are therefore the technical ones of the tenders. Let’s start immediately because at the Sacco we have existing spaces already available. And a structure will be built, but for this reason the times are longer. We will do some form of integration, as well as on the administration front we do not intend to burden ourselves with unnecessary costs. We want to become operational very quickly “.