S2.4 Beyond Covid: How Europe prepares for the next health emergency ft. Florika Fink-Hooijer

In a world of overlapping crises, from pandemics to conflict, how prepared is Europe to respond to the next health emergency? Joining host Aoife White is Florika Fink-Hooijer, who leads the EU’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). Created in the wake of Covid-19, HERA is designed to ensure Europe is no longer caught off guard. From early detection and research to stockpiling vaccines and medical countermeasures, it takes an “end-to-end” approach to managing health threats. In this episode, Fink-Hooijer outlines the four major risks Europe must prepare for: future pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, climate-driven diseases, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. As geopolitical instability rises, health security is increasingly linked to defence, with medical countermeasures becoming strategic assets. The conversation also explores lessons from Ukraine, the growing importance of global cooperation, and the risks of turning away from multilateral systems in favour of more transactional approaches.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.