The Scientific Committee proposed three main topics to debate during the Congress, all related to the support provided by the Armed Forces Health Services to the civilian population in situations of health emergency and to military personnel deployed on missions and operations outside the EU.

This election pursued the benefits of sharing the different points of view and experience of nations during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying best practices and lessons learned from the military response to the health crisis. The chosen topics were the following:

I. OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES IN A STATE OF UNCERTAINTY, INCLUDING THE MILITARY MEDICAL SUPPORT TO EU MISSIONS AND OPERATIONS, ADJUSTMENT AND LESSONS LEARNED

The health and social crisis that we are facing derived from the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the idea that it is necessary to establish and have those mechanisms, capabilities, capacities, and procedures that facilitate collaborative measures to achieve a common and practical approach. Military contribution, particularly military health services, contributes to guaranteeing nations’ resilience and their organisations, including those of security and defence.

The dimensioning of the military health systems of the countries will allow continuing with the missions entrusted, and sharing past experiences could be crucial to face future challenges. The focus should be both on each home country and deployments involving European Union member states.

The pillar considers the following suggestions as topics for discussion and debate:

Home country support:

EU missions:

II. MILITARY SUPPORT TO EUROPEAN VACCINATION PLAN

Vaccines have revolutionised modern medicine and have helped to reduce the spread of - and in some cases even eradicate - deadly diseases. On 17 June 2020, the European Commission presented a strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and deployment of vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines marks a turning point in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Vaccination of military personnel is an issue that has been differently tackled in vaccination strategies in every country.

This congress might be an opportunity to exchange information on the consideration of military personnel as essential in order to include them in the national immunization policies.

Throughout this year of the pandemic, and once the lockdowns have been released, military exercises have been gradually rescheduled. Requirements to enter different countries vary widely depending on the epidemiological and vaccination situation of the country, both, the country of origin and the country of destination. We wonder if it were advisable or possible to establish a unified European immunization registry information system to determine immunization coverages, together with an evaluation of the need to implement immunization certificates in order to facilitate soldiers cross border movements in Europe.

Last, but not least, it would be of utmost interest to know the role of the Armed Forces in the development of communication strategies to increase the population adherence to vaccination programs.

III. MILITARY SUPPORT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF EUROPEAN STRATEGIC RESERVES OF STRATEGIC MEDICAL STOCKPILES AGAINST PANDEMICS

The EU Security Union Strategy establishes the objective of building capabilities and capacities to respond to possible health crises. The increased risk of pandemics and the migration of the European industrial fabric make it necessary to have strategic medical reserves.

The objective of the panel is to determine why, what, how much, how, where, who, when and until when, of the strategic medical stockpile in Europe.

Lines of development: