The Financial Times: After the start of the war in Ukraine, the EU executive is accelerating plans to improve European countries’ response in the event of nuclear accidents or chemical or bacteriological attacks
The European Union has accelerated plans to “improve countries’ response to a nuclear accident” and encouraged member states to “increase stocks of iodine tablets, protective suits and other medicines” and is also working on plans to deal with possible consequences of chemical and biological attacks. The Financial Times is to report.
The European Commission’s recommendations come after Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed to the possibility of using his nuclear arsenal in the event of a “threat” to Russia, and after the United States warned the West about the possibility of chemical or biological weapons being used by Russian troops in Ukraine.
According to a European Commission spokesman quoted by the Financial Times, the plans of the European executive precede the invasion of Ukraine: the spokesman himself, however, confirmed that the goal is to increase preparedness in the field of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats .
In recent days, Italy has also updated its national plan “to deal with radiological and nuclear emergencies” and several pharmacies in many European countries including Belgium, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have seen a dramatic increase in demand for pills.
As mentioned here, “Potassium iodide tablets may only be useful for protecting the thyroid against future tumor development, but are only indicated for explosions in very close facilities (within 50 or 100 kilometers), they must be taken before or immediately after cloud arrival and daily for a limited time while the poison cloud lasts. A therapy that makes sense only for close people and very limited periods of time, considering that (like all medicines) these pills can also have side effects: thyroid dysfunction (eg , diarrhea, gastralgia), allergic reactions (cutaneous angioedema, arthralgia, lymphadenopathy). , urticaria) “.
The Commission last September created the European Health Emergencies Preparedness and Response Authority (Hera), tasked with anticipating potential future health emergencies and preparing the Union to deal with them.
In the event of an emergency, Hera would activate his means and mechanisms for surveillance, procurement, and the purchase of materials.
Article is updated…
March 20, 2022 (change March 20, 2022 | 18:12)
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