The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) held a joint meeting of the European and North Atlantic Regional Office of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with the ICAO Middle East Regional Office on the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA EUR/MID) /11) at EASA headquarters in Cologne, Germany.

The meeting was attended by representatives of more than 20 participating countries: aviation medical experts, experts from civil aviation regulators and public health authorities, representatives of airports and airlines, representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), EASA, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and other CAPSCA members and partners, as well as other interested parties.

The meeting provided an opportunity for participants to actively exchange experiences on how to implement the CAPSCA program in planning preparedness for future public health events and share experiences in developing public health emergency plans.

This meeting was attended by the Director of the aviation medicine Department of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan Almira Berdongarova and a technical specialist in human factor Khorlan Ashimova. Almira Berdongarova presented to the participants a presentation on cooperation mechanisms used in the Republic of Kazakhstan to prevent and manage public health events in civil aviation.

Communication with the participants of the meeting allowed to explore the experience of implementing the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) of other participating countries.

The event provided an opportunity to further enhance international collaboration among stakeholders, including public health authorities, to strengthen ICAO Partner States' efforts to plan and coordinate preparedness for public health events to reduce risks that could affect public health and disrupt aviation work.