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Alerting System for Chemical Health Threats Phase II (ASHTII)

ASHT EU project logo        Executive Agency for Health and Consumers logo

The Alerting System for Chemical Health Threats phase II (ASHTII)  is a international research project, part funded by the European Commission, to improve the risk assessment and risk management of chemical health threats in Europe.

The ASHT project is composed of two phases. Phase I  of the project determined if it was feasible for Poisons Centres across Europe to serve as sentinels for the detection of deliberate chemical incidents and events. Phase I also developed an alerting system where Member States are notified of the chemical threats. Results from the first phase indicated that there is a limited degree of data harmonisation between Poisons Centres. The lack of controlled terminology provides an increased opportunity (through phase II) for data harmonisation.

Poisons Centres provide an important Public Health service and resource; however, few Poisons Centres have formal arrangements to notify the public health sector about chemical events. In most European countries, Poisons Centres and the public health sector do not communicate well with each other, and ASHT phase II will address this issue.

The main objective of ASHTII is to improve the response of national (UK) and international (EU) Public Health Authorities and health services in the event of a chemical incident throughout the EU (including deliberate releases). This will involve developing a strategy for improved information exchange and response to health threats, specifically the further development of an early warning system on non-communicable disease threats (e.g. chemical agents). 

Upon successful completion of the project the developed IT systems will be hosted by the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General as part of the Health Emergency Operations Facility (HEOF). HEOF was developed to support EU countries to react to situations where cross border coordination and information sharing is justified. 

Summary of Project Work Packages      

Overview of Project Objectives

ASHTII Publications

Associate Partners

  • European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists (EAPCCT)
  • Giz-Nord Poisons Centre, University of Göttingen, Germany (UMG-GOE)
  • Guy's and St Thomas's Medical Toxicology Unit, London (GSTFT)
  • Centre Hospitalier Universtaire de Lille, France (CHRU de Lille)
  • Health Emergency Situations Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania (HESC)
  • General Faculty Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic

Subcontractors

National Poisons Information Service, UK

Collaborating Partners

Grant Agreement Number

2007210

Project Duration

October 2008 - September 2011

Funding

The project is partly funded by the European Commission.

Contact Details 

ASHT@hpa.org.uk


 

External Links