Global Sepsis Alliance
GSA
The Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) is a non-profit charity organization with the mission to provide global leadership to reduce the worldwide burden of sepsis.
ID: 431812995525-88
Lobbying Activity
Response to EU Strategy on medical countermeasures
9 May 2025
The European Sepsis Alliance (ESA) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback to this call for evidence. Sepsis is one of the most pressing and under-addressed medical emergencies globally. It arises when the immune systems response to an infection triggers life-threatening multi-organ dysfunction. Pandemics, natural disasters, conflicts, and humanitarian crises pose civilians, healthcare and military personnel to increased risks of infections and sepsis. Refugees and migrants are also at an increased risk of infections that can lead to sepsis, due to limited access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare, and poor hygiene and living conditions. According to the latest estimates by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) , in 2021 sepsis was responsible for 21,36 million deaths worldwide, with 1,27 million deaths occurring in the EU alone. Most of the total 7,1 million deaths documented during the COVID-19 pandemic are also to be associated with or attributable to sepsis, as 78% and 33% of COVID-19 patients treated respectively in intensive care units (ICUs) and hospital wards, met diagnostic criteria for sepsis. Rapid response in sepsis treatment is critical to increase the survival rate and contribute to alleviate the burden on the healthcare system preventing the escalation in intensive care. A focus on sepsis technologies and solutions would help catalyse investments in the EU life science sector and especially in SMEs developing novel and promising diagnostics and therapeutics, thus enhancing European strategic independency and response capacity. The ESA Call to Action, signed by 18 organisations, already calls for the prioritisation of sepsis in the HERA work plan. We believe that this strategy is another opportunity not to be missed to ensure that critical measures for the detection and treatment of sepsis are included in the EU priority list.
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