Background and Objectives of the EuroMomo Project

Between 2008 and 2011, the European EuroMomo project (European monitoring of excess mortality for public health action), coordinated by Denmark, was carried out to:

• standardize routine methods for recording mortality data across European countries;

• implement a common statistical analysis tool for these data, whose results would be comparable across different European countries.

The main objective was to ensure responsive health surveillance based on mortality at the European level.

29 countries participating in the EuroMomo project in 2021

Since the project’s conclusion in 2011, the Danish team has continued its work on coordination and weekly data analysis. In particular, the EuroMomo project supports the establishment of systems for the routine collection and analysis of mortality data in various countries. Launched with 6 countries in the pilot phase in 2009, the consortium includes, as of 2021, 29 partner countries or regions in Europe (both EU and non-EU), including France (Germany, the Berlin Region, the Hesse Region, England, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Scotland, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Wales, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine). These countries participate in the weekly analysis of data at the European level.

Scientific Approach and Content of the EuroMomo Project

The approach aims to ensure responsive health surveillance based on mortality data at the European level. The scientific approach of the project consisted of four stages:

• An inventory of existing systems based on mortality data in European countries. The inventory was conducted using a questionnaire completed by institutions in these various countries.

• Identification and recommendation of the minimum requirements for establishing a mortality surveillance system in a country.

• A literature review of statistical methods used for analyzing mortality data with a view to establishing appropriate surveillance of these data. This review also aimed to provide guidance for the selection and validation of data analysis algorithms.

• Development and deployment of a common modeling module enabling routine surveillance of weekly fluctuations in mortality by age group across the different countries. Each project partner country is responsible for adapting the analysis module, testing it on the mortality data used for routine surveillance in the country, and then implementing a weekly run on the mortality data. The results are sent weekly (along with a rapid interpretation of the fluctuations and the health situation in the country) to the project coordination team, which conducts an analysis at the European level and publishes a bulletin on the project website.