EU-WISH

Project Description:

The EU-WISH project aims to enhance national public health wastewater surveillance capacities by fostering knowledge exchange and promoting best practices rooted in scientific evidence. Emphasis will be placed on integrating and complementing wastewater surveillance with other public health surveillance systems, thereby bolstering preparedness and response to cross-border health threats. Collaborative efforts will focus on harmonizing epidemiological and technical methodologies to achieve the public health goals of this surveillance initiative.

Through its activities, the project will enhance the European Union’s capability to prevent, prepare for, and swiftly respond to serious cross-border health threats. With its strong consortium of partners, EU-WISH envisions improving wastewater surveillance not only at the European level but also on a global scale.

The project phases and their implementation:

The EU-WISH project will be implemented through seven work packages:

• Work Package 1: Project management and coordination;
• Work Package 2: Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation;
• Work Package 3: Evaluation and Preparedness;
• Work Package 4: Sustainability and capacity building;
• Work Package 5: Mapping current actions and future priority targets of wastewater surveillance;
• Work Package 6: Usage of wastewater surveillance data for public health;
• Work Package 7: Wastewater surveillance technical procedures, sampling schemes and analysis methods for priority targets.

Slovenia is involved in all work packages with exception of Work Package 4.

Added Value:

The project’s activities will be aimed at connecting wastewater surveillance with other surveillance systems and at strengthening the system of preparedness and response to public health risks. In addition, the countries will exchange good practices in this field, which is particularly crucial for NIJZ, given its status as an emerging field with rapid advancements.

Expected Results and Material:

The outcomes of EU-WISH, primarily focused on guidance and recommendations regarding monitoring, preparedness, and response protocols, will be collaboratively developed with key stakeholders such as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the World Health Organization, and other relevant national, European, and international entities.

Project Duration: 1. 11. 2023 – 31. 10. 2026

Supporting Organisation: Statens Serum Institut (SSI), Denmark.

Project partners: Ethnikos Organismos Dimosias Ygeias (EODY), Greece; Österreichische Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit (AGES), Austria; Sciensano (WIV-ISP), Belgium; Hrvatski zavod za javno zdravstvo (CIPH), Croatia; Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus (MPHS-CY), Cyprus; Statni zdravotni ustav (SZU), Czech Republic; Terviseame (HB), Estonia; Terveyden ja Hyvinvoinnin Laitos (THL), Finland; Ministere des Affaires Sociales et de la Sante (DGS-FR), France; Robert Koch-Institut (RKI), Germany; Nemzeti Nepegeszsegugyi Kozpont (NNK), Hungary; Health Service Executive (HSE), Ireland; Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS), Italy; Slimibu profilakses un kontroles centrs (SPKC), Latvia; Nacionalinis visuomenes sveikatos centras prie Sveikatos apsaugos ministerijos (NVSC-LT), Lithuania; Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Luxembourg; Ministry for Health – Government of Malta (IDCU), Malta; Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM), Netherlands; Folkehelseinstituttet (FHI), Norway; Instituto Nacional de Saude Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal; Institutul National de Sanatate Publica (INSP), Romania; Nacionalni institut za javno zdravje (NIJZ), Slovenia; Instituto de Salud Carlos III  (ISCIII), Spain; Folkhalsomyndigheten (FOHM), Sweden; Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Ukraine.

Funding: Co-funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement No. 101140460) and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia.