European Parliament declaration
The Declaration, tabled by John Bowis together Georgs Andrejevs, Dorette Corbey and Karin Scheele, urges the Commission and Council:
to prioritise diabetes in EU health policy,
to encourage Member States to develop national diabetes plans and,
calls on the Commission and Council to develop an EU diabetes strategy and draft an EU Council Recommendation on diabetes prevention, diagnosis and control.
The European Parliament’s Written Declaration has now been communicated to the European Commission and Council.
The International Diabetes Federation - European Region (IDF Europe), EPHA member and the Federation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND) welcomed the adoption of the Written Declaration by such a clear majority of MEPs. They point out that such a high level of support for a Written Declaration is rare and highlights the acute awareness and the cross-party, cross-national consensus on the need for urgent action on the growing diabetes epidemic in Europe.
Conclusions of the Presidency on Diabetes
This adoption is timely since Diabetes is one of the main themes of the Austrian presidency, who organised a discussion on the issue during the informal European health minister council on the 25-26 April 2006. During the meeting, European ministers expanded their views to take into account practices from China and the USA. The Informal council conclusions highlighted the need to promote a healthy lifestyle throughout Europe and create a living environment that enables healthy choices.
EPHA related articles and sections:
