For a long time, infectious diseases in Europe were thought to have been defeated. Now it is not only new threats such as SARS or avian flu that are the centre of attention: diseases such as measles and tuberculosis are also on the rise again.

The IZT developed scenarios to sensitise key players in the EU to this topic and to support future planning in this field of action.

The client was the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The ECDC was founded by the European Parliament with the intention of identifying, assessing and disseminating both current and emerging threats to human health from communicable diseases.

The research project focussed on

  • the identification of plausible scenarios on the potential risks of infectious diseases in the EU in 2020,
  • a comprehensive analysis of the (emerging) threats, opportunities and strengths within the EU in relation to the risks described in the scenarios,
  • the integration of relevant stakeholders and interest groups in the scenario process and
  • the inclusion of expert knowledge and practical knowledge to validate and concretise the scenarios.

An expert workshop and an online dialogue platform supported this process.