35. Stresses the importance of increasing global epidemiological research capacity, developing ‘quick tests’ and providing access to vaccines; welcomes, in this regard, the fact that many EU research funds have been mobilised to fight against the Ebola virus, including through the Innovative Medicines Initiative, the Horizon 2020 programme and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership (EDCTP) programme; underlines that, although vaccines are welcome, they are most probably not suitable to eradicate Ebola, as the ...[+++] virus is mutating; stresses, therefore, that funding priority has to be given to general health system strengthening, hygiene, containment, reliable quick testing in tropical settings and medication targeting the virus and the symptoms it causes;

34. Stresses the importance of increasing global epidemiological research capacity, developing ‘quick tests’ and providing access to vaccines; welcomes, in this regard, the fact that many EU research funds have been mobilised to fight against the Ebola virus, including through the Innovative Medicines Initiative, the Horizon 2020 programme and the European Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership (EDCTP) programme; underlines that, although vaccines are welcome, they are most probably not suitable to eradicate Ebola, as the v ...[+++]irus is mutating; stresses, therefore, that funding priority has to be given to general health system strengthening, hygiene, containment, reliable quick testing in tropical settings and medication targeting the virus and the symptoms it causes;

35. Stresses the importance of increasing global epidemiological research capacity, developing ‘quick tests’ and providing access to vaccines; welcomes, in this regard, the fact that many EU research funds have been mobilised to fight against the Ebola virus, including through the Innovative Medicines Initiative, the Horizon 2020 programme and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership (EDCTP) programme; underlines that, although vaccines are welcome, they are most probably not suitable to eradicate Ebola, as the ...[+++] virus is mutating; stresses, therefore, that funding priority has to be given to general health system strengthening, hygiene, containment, reliable quick testing in tropical settings and medication targeting the virus and the symptoms it causes;

28. Encourages taking immediate action to create a financial environment for research into the prevention of further outbreaks, and to coordinate and strengthen medical research and the production of effective medicines, clinical tests and policies, not only against Ebola but also against certain other epidemic-prone, life-threatening infectious diseases that cause a high number of deaths in Africa, and to publish the data regarding vaccine safety and effectiveness; stresses the necessity of not withdrawing from research efforts, given the need for continuous control of the epidemic, taking care to secure ethical conditions for the tria ...[+++]ls by means of informed prior consent of the patients who take part in the trials, transparency in the clinical data resulting from this research and effective access to these vaccines and treatments by the populations concerned (qualified staff and adequate infrastructure for care delivery, with the price not exceeding the real cost of production); expects the grant agreements of the Ebola+ programme to be made public with regard to their conditions and award procedures;

Seasonal influenza can be mitigated through vaccination but the virus frequently changes its antigenic composition and, therefore, vaccine composition is reviewed regularly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) expert groups.

28. Is disappointed that in spite of the major needs for appropriations for development of a dead vaccine for the Blue Tongue virus (BTV), Council refused to approve this initiative by Parliament in its second reading; welcomes however the Commission's suggestion, expressed in the letter of executability, to incorporate the development of a new vaccine for blue tongue in the Research budget under the IPA projects; emphasises that preference should be given to the development of a multivalent vaccine, which is effective against the different types of the virus;