A proposed European Union agency to tackle disease outbreaks and bioterror attacks will be a much slimmed-down version of the US body on which it is modelled, a European Commission document showed today.
European Health Commissioner David Byrne wanted the 15-nation EU to have an agency like the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to beef up Europe's defences against health threats such as SARS.
But the proposal had to be scaled down because of a lack of money in the budget, a Commission official told Reuters.
"It's (now) more like a coordination centre of all the national centres in the European Union," the official said.
The agency's budget will now stretch to about 12 million euros (USD 13.45 million) annually, rising to about 48 million euros after five years, according to the document obtained by Reuters and due to be published next Wednesday.
Unlike the US government's 8,500-strong Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the European agency would have a staff of fewer than 100, who would coordinate Europe's response to outbreaks of infectious diseases.
The proposal, which has yet to be examined by the European Parliament and EU governments, did not say where the body should be located, but said it would aim to start work in 2005.
Under the Commission's plan, the agency's duties would include EU-wide surveillance for disease outbreaks, ensuring scientists were on hand to deal with threats around the clock.
It would also aim to improve the EU's preparedness for health emergencies, including bioterrorism attacks involving the release of substances such as anthrax.