Is HERA a panacea for making the European Health Union a reality?

The health information systems in the European Union (EU) are an example of politically ambitious, technically impressive, and driven-by-science mechanisms. Several international indicators and data sets are currently in function, such as Eurostat, World Health Organization Health for All database, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development health data, all serving as broad data platforms. Others have a more specific focus, such as data sets and platforms of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). More than 60 indicators are already up and running, and data can be disaggregated by sex, age, socio-economic status, and region. The European Core Health Indicators (ECHI) data tool offers data on ECHI indicators and other European health indicators, which are available in different formats (1). The whole system and the individual tools seem to be highly efficient, functional, and integrated. However, when on January 30, 2020, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern, and a pandemic on March 11, 2020, all data flows and information systems in public health underwent a radical stress tes