(1)

Commission Decision 2000/96/EC of 22 December 1999 on the communicable diseases to be progressively covered by the Community network under Decision No 2119/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) establishes a list of communicable diseases and special health issues for epidemiological surveillance purposes. The main purpose for developing at Community level such a network for the surveillance and control of communicable diseases was to collect and coordinate information from monitoring networks in the Member States in relation to public health.

(2)

As at the time of adoption of the Decision 2000/96/EC not all communicable diseases or special health issues selected for epidemiological surveillance could be covered by the Community network, some dedicated surveillance networks have been identified as those which could be already put in place.

(3)

Commission Decision 2003/542/EC of 17 July 2003 amending Decision 2000/96/EC as regards the operation of dedicated surveillance networks (3), inter alia, specifies the communicable diseases and special health issues for which dedicated surveillance networks had been put in place at that time.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 851/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 establishing a European centre for disease prevention and control (4) (ECDC) defines dedicated surveillance networks (DSN) as any specific network on diseases or special health issues selected for epidemiological surveillance between accredited structures and authorities of Member States.

(5)

Article 3(2)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 851/2004, entrusted the ECDC with the mission to coordinate the European networking of bodies operating within the fields of its mission, including networks arising from the public health activities supported by the Commission and operating the DSN.

(6)

The ECDC currently monitors the relative importance of diseases and special health issues and whenever required by the epidemiological situation suggests amending the list of communicable diseases to be progressively covered by the Community network; in addition any new diseases included within the Decision 2000/96/EC are immediately covered by epidemiological surveillance of the ECDC.

(7)

As the vast majority of the diseases and health issues listed in the Annex I to Decision 2000/96/EC is now covered by the ECDC activities, it is no longer necessary to highlight in that Annex, by means of asterisks, those networks which are already in place.

(8)

Decision 2000/96/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee set up by Article 7 of Decision No 2119/98/EC,

1.

In the Article 4(2) the first subparagraph is deleted.

2.

Annex I is amended as set out in the Annex to this Decision.