17. Stresses the importance of the EU avoiding a ‘one size fits all’ approach when providing crisis assistance in developing countries, in particular by paying attention to sub-national health systems by increasing the qualified health workforce; calls on the international community and the EU to lead the work on building resilient health systems, through national plans that will be used as the basis on which all international actors and partners can define roles and responsibilities, and to work together with the countries affected to develop an emergency medical training programme with a view to overcoming the acute local shortage of ...[+++]medical staff and to ensure that measures are taken on the ground to immunise the population;

This new and worrying outbreak adds to the long list of diseases that have affected the sheep and beef sector in recent years: BSE, bovine tuberculosis, foot-and-mouth disease, bluetongue virus and now Schmallenberg.

To ensure better control of the spread of the bluetongue virus and to reduce the burden on the agricultural sector posed by that disease, the rules on vaccination laid down in Council Directive 2000/75/EC of 20 November 2000 laying down specific provisions for the control and eradication of bluetongue (3) were recently amended by Directive 2012/5/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) to take account of the recent tec ...[+++]hnological developments in vaccine production.

- With more than 50% of EU citizens still believing that antibiotics are effective against viruses, awareness and understanding of the public in general and healthcare, veterinary and other professionals on AMR and the importance of appropriate use need to be enhanced through education campaigns throughout the EU and by making AMR a more integral part of education programs for health and veterinary professional groups.

- With more than 50% of EU citizens still believing that antibiotics are effective against viruses, awareness and understanding of the public in general and healthcare, veterinary and other professionals on AMR and the importance of appropriate use need to be enhanced through education campaigns throughout the EU and by making AMR a more integral part of education programs for health and veterinary professional groups.

What is needed is to activate a safeguard clause to block imports of industrial poultry from outside Europe, especially as it appears that the more industrialised the sector, the more intense the avian influenza virus; in Asia, Laos, where there are no industrial holdings, has been spared, in contrast with neighbouring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.