Great efforts are being made to increase vaccine production in Africa. Local drug regulatory authorities are responsible for testing vaccine batches for quality, safety, and efficacy. They approve them for human use. The VaccRelease project of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) supports its partner countries in Africa in setting up an effective…
The event in Frankfurt was hosted by the EMT National Focal Point team of the RKI (unit ZIG 3) in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. It was supported by the project “EMT Twinning, Training, Transfer of Knowledge”. Participants included 51 representatives…
From 7 to 11 July 2025, twenty-five researchers from Nigeria and Germany gathered for an interdisciplinary Manuscript Writing Workshop. The event was organised as part of the COPE project and took place at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut on the island of Riems. The COPE project promotes community-driven solutions to Lassa fever within…
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has been in a state of emergency – in such situations, as a high-ranking federal authority/department the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), is also asked to use its capabilities to provide assistance on the ground. Among other things, ZBS 7 at Robert Koch-Institut…
Context The Western Balkans (WB6: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia) went through a particularly dramatic initial COVID-19 pandemic course, with inter alia high excess mortality (direct and indirect pandemic related deaths), low vaccination rates and stressed public healthcare systems. Consequently, the risk of future waves of…
Context In the globalised world of the 21st century, public health emergencies are of international concern, as health threats spread easily and rapidly across borders and continents. To ensure the world is prepared and able to respond to potential threats, the International Health Regulations (IHR) were launched in 2005 as…
Context The COVID-19 pandemic put a heavy strain on many public health systems, which had to deal with high numbers of severely ill people and deaths and with challenges regarding vaccination and medical supplies. The Balkan region was seriously affected by the pandemic, highlighting the importance of strengthening preparedness and…
Context The treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is complex and often requires patients to follow long and extensive treatment protocols. This is especially true of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), which is one of the most urgent problems facing TB control in Eastern Europe. As any interruption of treatment can jeopardise effective (DR-)…
Context Despite important progress in therapy and prevention, HIV and viral hepatitis are still a major health threat in the WHO European Region. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released action plans with specific targets to eliminate and control these diseases, which are being translated…