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NATO health officials meet to discuss medical support for collective defence
20 November 2025
2 MIN READ
Brussels, NATO HQ, 20 November 2025 – NATO organised a joint, senior-level meeting with representatives from the Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services and the Joint Health Group, at SHAPE and NATO HQ, 19-20 November. Around 150 senior military and civilian stakeholders discussed medical planning in support of the Alliance’s collective defence posture.
The Chief of Staff of SHAPE, General Markus Laubenthal, welcomed Allied officials underlining the importance of medical support for the Alliance’s deterrence and defence posture. He also underscored the importance of close civil-military cooperation, and the need for a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to enhance medical capacities across NATO.
The discussions at SHAPE focused on challenges and measures to further strengthen national and collective medical support, not only as a critical enabler, but also to sustain protracted defence efforts at scale, in a contested environment, across SACEUR’s entire area of operations, and across all domains. Allies’ civil and military health officials focussed on greater coordination and cooperation among medical services to ensure that NATO’s medical capabilities, requirements for current and future operations are met. Several Allies agreed to take the lead for critical medical initiatives as identified in the Medical Action Plan agreed to in 2025, and to start implementation efforts early in 2026.
In separate meetings at NATO Headquarters on 20 November, including with selected partners and senior staff representatives from the European Union, Allies discussed the recent societal developments related to health preparedness; raised awareness for respective initiatives; and identified areas of mutual interest that require close coordination and cooperation.
The Action Plan to Enhance Medical Support for Collective Defence (MAP) was agreed in January 2025. It focusses around five main themes: (1) regulatory frameworks and legislation, (2) workforce shortages, (3) mass casualty planning, (4) patient evacuation and (5) medical logistics. In particular, the MAP contains a set of prioritised Critical Medical Initiatives, that will now be taken forward by Lead Nations.