This action will support bringing next-generation PPE to the market to provide sustainable, universal and effective choices for the personal protection of healthcare and other essential workers, patients and the public. Superior respiratory protection will be available for stockpiling, scale-up and uptake by healthcare systems and the public in response to future pandemics or epidemics. The reduction of the use of single-use products will make the EU less vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.
Cost-effective and user-friendly next-generation respirators will slowly replace regular respirators and be deployed at national, regional, and local levels, ensuring better preparedness for future pandemics and other cross-border health threats. Widely incorporating improved respirators into clinical practice will also lead to better protection for healthcare workers and patients already in preparedness times, and overall improved health outcomes.
Objective:Through this action, HERA will support the development of next-generation respiratory PPE that addresses and/or mitigates the above-mentioned issues (see section 1.2), ending a 30-year period of no significant innovation in the field and ultimately ensuring a more effective response to future cross-border health threats, with an all-threats approach. In this context, it implements the EU4Health general objective of improving the availability, accessibility and affordability of medicinal products and medical devices,
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