The first step in the EU's survival kit: a stockpile of medicines and food.

StrasbourgThe European Union has set its sights on preventing this from happening again. the drug shortage crisis suffered during the coronavirus. In this regard, Brussels presented two initiatives this Wednesday to ensure that the European bloc as a whole has sufficient pharmaceutical supplies stockpiled to deal with a crisis situation, be it a pandemic, a power outage, a conflict, or a natural disaster. With the same objective, it also proposes the accumulation of basic food supplies, water, and, among other things, fuel.

The European Commissioner for Crisis Prevention, Hadja Lahbib, stated in a press conference from the European Parliament headquarters in Strasbourg that the first step of the survival plan she presented last April is to "better coordinate" and know exactly and at all times what all the member states need. The aim is to create a storage network for basic elements similar to that of tanker aircraft, which are activated and sent to the different member states in the event of a fire.

Specifically, Brussels identifies four types of health crises for which it warns that we must be prepared: respiratory crises, those transmitted through animal contact, antimicrobial resistance, and chemical, biological, or nuclear threats related to armed conflict. However, the European Commission assures that at the moment, only three states have crisis stockpiling plans at the state level: Finland, Estonia, and the Czech Republic.

Along the same lines, the European Commissioner for Crisis Prevention has also announced her intention to increase European funding for HERA, the agency that prepares for potential health emergencies. Brussels created it after the COVID pandemic and was inspired by the United States. The goal is to contribute to research in laboratories and startups to develop medicines and other goods, such as respiratory masks, that could be useful in dealing with a pandemic.