Risk Assessment is considered a key part of the risk management cycle and can be defined as a mental process aiming to establish a level of risk for a population in relation to a specific event, with the purpose of identifying potential response or mitigation actions. The process is usually expressed in terms of probability of occurrence of an event and of consequences for the involved individuals, and is used in several scientific disciplines.
In public health, Risk Assessment implies an evaluation of a risk in terms of health for a human population exposed, or potentially exposed, to a threat. In case of outbreaks and other acute public health events, the process is commonly defined within the scientific community as a “Rapid Risk Assessment of Acute Public Health Events” (RRA) and aims to achieve a particularly prompt identification of action able to rapidly limit the spread of the event and the health consequences for the population.
The Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre (DRMKC) is an initiative of the European Commission launched in 2015 to enhance resilience to disasters at EU level. The activities of the DRMKC support the translation of complex scientific data and analyses into usable information and provide science-based advice for decision making purposes, as well as timely and reliable scientific-based analyses for emergency preparedness and coordinated response activities. The overall scope of the DRMKC is to bring together existing initiatives in which science and innovative practices contribute to the management of natural disaster risks. Among other objectives, the DRMKC is required to support EU member states in improving their capacities to reduce risk across multiple hazards and sectors, including global health threats. For this reason, in terms of acute public health events, the DRMKC is currently trying to identify the information useful to support the RRA related to biological hazards (epidemics). The ultimate aim is to create a web-based informative repository openly consultable by member state authorities and other health professionals both in the EU and further afield. This platform aims to includes validated multidisciplinary information and an exhaustive list of additional credible informative online sources able to support RRA activities.
MANTERO Jas;
DOHERTY Brian;
2018-02-06
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC109977
978-92-79-77699-1 (print),
978-92-79-77698-4,
1018-5593 (print),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 29049 EN,
OP KJ-NA-29049-EN-C (print),
OP KJ-NA-29049-EN-N (online),
http://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/overview/Documents#documents/433/details/9008/identification-of-informative-content-needs-supporting-rapid-risk-assessment-of-acute-public-health-events-icn-rra-,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC109977,
10.2760/53486 (online),
10.2760/679047 (print),
