Luxembourg presents the PHRESH project, an EU-supported initiative to strengthen the country's epidemiological preparedness and response

Luxembourg is stepping up the digitalization of infectious disease surveillance through the PHRESH (Public Health Rapid Epidemiological Surveillance Hub) project (2025-2028). The initiative will deliver more integrated data flows and adopt a One Health approach -bringing together the human, veterinary, and environmental sectors- to enable earlier detection of health threats. Led by the Health inspection within Luxembourg's Health directorate and supported by the European Commission (DG SANTE) under the EU4Health programme, PHRESH contributes to the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 on serious cross-border threats to health by improving the efficiency, interoperability, and resilience of surveillance systems across EU Member States.

By bringing together clinical, laboratory, hospital, and environmental data, PHRESH aims to strengthen infectious disease surveillance in Luxembourg and improve coordination of public health responses. The project also includes targeted training and communication activities to support uptake among healthcare professionals.

Concrete progress in surveillance systems

The first General Assembly marks the rollout of faster detection tools and closer collaboration at European level, particularly with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

On this occasion, the Health directorate presented progress made during the first year of implementation. Two national hospitals are now implementing real-time syndromic surveillance − continuous monitoring of diagnoses made in emergency departments − to detect unusual patterns at an early stage and identify potential threats, such as a rise in severe respiratory illnesses. The system is expected to be expanded in the coming months.

To support this work, a new digital system for reporting and managing infectious disease cases and outbreaks of any scale is currently being deployed and already covers ten notifiable diseases.

"Our commitment is closely aligned with European goals of stronger global health security, and the PHRESH project is an important step towards improving the detection of health threats and strengthening Luxembourg's response capacity," said Minister Martine Deprez.

EU support and the EU policy context

Against a backdrop of an evolving health threat landscape, the European Commission is supporting EU countries to enhance capacity in prevention, preparedness, surveillance, risk assessment, early warning and response. The European Commission has contributed EUR 83 million across 23 countries to improve national surveillance systems in 2023. The PHRESH project is the result of the Luxembourgish grant, supported by this EU funding.

"PHRESH is an excellent example of how EU funding can strengthen countries' preparedness, surveillance, and response capacities for cross-border health threats. This is not only beneficial for those living in Luxembourg, but also for the wider European health security," said Sandra Gallina, Director-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission.

Collaboration with ECDC – Epi+ platform

The ECDC showcased Epi+, its upcoming open‑source platform designed following EU Member States national requirements to strengthen event‑based surveillance across the EU/EEA. Epi+ will support Luxembourg advancing integrated One Health surveillance by enabling more streamlined data sharing and coordinated analysis across human, animal, food, water and environmental health sectors.

"Reliable, timely and shared information is the backbone of early warning and response," says Pamela Rendi-Wagner, ECDC Director. "Epi+ will help Luxembourg and other countries strengthen event‑based surveillance and ensure that signals are captured and acted upon quickly, improving our collective ability to detect and respond to emerging cross‑border threats."

Along with the national tool for surveillance and outbreak management, the platform will support data sharing among all national One Health stakeholders providing coordinated analysis and responses across all sectors from food and water safety to animal and environmental health to improve comprehensive approach and prevention of emerging one health cross-border threats.

Final remarks

The deployment of these tools and progress in quality of surveillance and response capacities is supported by the Ministry of Health and Social Security, an important grant from the European EU4Health Programme, and technical expertise from ECDC.

Press release by the Ministry of Health and Social Security and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)