In March 2005, representatives gathered for a two-day workshop in Luxembourg to discuss national preparedness plans for influenza pandemics. Jointly organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission (EC), the objective was to enable countries to recognise and manage an influenza pandemic. The workshop was attended by sixty participants representing fifty WHO European regional member states including immunologists, public health specialists, virologists, communicable disease specialists, microbiologists, and preparedness planning specialists.

Participants were asked to evaluate their own preparedness plans as well as those of their fellow participants, which allowed for the sharing of new ideas and lessons learned within and between member states. Members were divided into working groups to examine their country’s pandemic planning and preparedness and to discuss priority areas using components of the WHO checklist. The discussions focused around the main components of the checklist:

• Preparing for an emergency
• Surveillance, case investigation and treatment
• Preventing spread of disease in the community and Maintaining essential services
• Research and evaluation and Implementation, testing and revision of the plan

One of the themes that arose out of the working groups was the importance of involving communities and the public in preparedness planning. Participants also discussed the role of the EU in ensuring that there are mechanisms in place for rapid communication and information exchange between member states. Participants expressed a strong interest in developing common solutions and cross border cooperation, reinforcing the need to develop coordinated actions to facilitate the planning and implementation of comprehensive pandemic preparedness plans.