China CDC and European CDC Hold Technical Exchange Meeting on Public Health Workforce Development and Training

On January 16, 2024, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) held a technical exchange meeting on public health workforce development and training via an online conference. The meeting saw participation from Adam Roth, head of the ECDC's Fellowship Program, Emeline Bell and Anna Kiss, ECDC international relations officers as well as experts and officers from the Office of Education and Training and Office of International Cooperation of the China CDC.

The meeting facilitated an exchange and discussion on the development and training of public health workforce between the two institutions. ECDC experts specifically introduced the development and implementation of the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) and the Public Health Microbiology Training Program (EUPHEM), highlighting a challenge for the ECDC now facing is how to better get other disciplines and partners into workforce development and training programs under the "One Health" perspective. Experts from China CDC introduced current workforce development and training programs in China CDC, including postgraduate medical education programs, standardized training for public health physicians, and the Chinese Field Epidemiology Training Program (CFETP). Both parties expressed intentions to further exchange information on public health workforce development and training in the future, learning from each other and jointly promoting the construction of public health workforce.