It is headed by a chairman, is composed of the Surgeons General of the allied nations and the senior medical advisers within NATO's command structure, and meets twice annually in plenary session.

[1][2] Since health matters within NATO were historically regarded strictly as a national responsibility, the alliance did not have a high-level collective medical authority for the first few decades of its existence.

[2] In 1968, the defence ministers of NATO's European member states founded EUROGROUP to enhance informal co-ordination with the support of various expert advisory groups (Logistic, Training, Coordination of armaments procurement, etc.).

[4][5] COMEDS advises the Military Committee on health matters affecting NATO and serves as its coordinating body for all health-related policies, doctrines, concepts, procedures, techniques, programmes and initiatives.

The award is named after Napoleon's famous Surgeon General who introduced several medical and humanitarian innovations for battlefield health care, whose practice of treating all casualties with equal regard and without national distinction preceded the Geneva Conventions by many decades, and who was admired by Napoleon and by the leaders of the allied forces opposing him.