Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) is a powerful tool to support public health decision making. The tool requires multidisciplinary cross-sector coordination of key stakeholders from the health and water sectors, and relies heavily on transnational coordination and cooperation, which is strongly promoted by the EU.

In order to ensure establishment, sustainability and reliability of national WBE programmes, it is essential to define procedures with allocated responsibilities, to arrange formal commitment from relevant national actors, and to ensure adequacy of resourcing (human resources, technical capability and competence, required facilities and funding as well as regular coordination and review).

This workshop will bring together EaP national decision-makers to review the power and benefits of WBE, as well as to initiate the relevant policy processes in the EaP countries to formally establish national wastewater-based surveillance that can easily coordinate with the EU and other global actors.