Welcome to the March 2008 edition of the EPHA Newsletter.
This month was the first opportunity to gauge the commitment and priorities of the Health Commissioner-designate. On 1 April, Commissioner Vassiliou appeared before the European Parliament to answer questions from Parliamentarians on the work of her Directorate. It was not an easy hearing: the MEPs were well-prepared and challenging in their questions, particularly on health services, and it was clear that her experience as a politician helped her when responding. She closed her hearing with a remark that when preparing the dossiers, she was told the health portfolio at European level was ’soft’, but she felt it is anything but.
MEPs and lobbyists alike were generally pleased with her performance, and we all are optimistic that her clear enthusiasm and commitment to health will carry on throughout her term. Final approval of her position will take place at the Parliamentary plenary on the 9 and 10 April.
March also saw press reports on EU health inequalities. The launch of the second three-year cycle of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs represents was a missed opportunity by politicians. Currently, 1 out of 4 citizens in Europe feel that they will be facing poverty. One out of 7 are facing poverty. This is not acceptable. EPHA will continue to work on health inequalities as a priority, and in particular lever the opportunities brought by the 2010 European Year on Poverty and Social Exclusion. Including representatives from new Member States in advocacy is crucial.
Decision-making in Brussels is still dominated by the wealthier Member States, and building capacity for our newer Member States to have a similar level of access to policy-makers is particularly challenging due to limited resources. EPHA has a history of capacity-building and integrating new Member States, and new voices into policy and Brussels decision-making. We are currently exploring ways to build on this work and would welcome suggestions from readers.
Finally, a reminder to readers that our Annual General Assembly will be held this year on 19 June in Brussels.
We are delighted to announce our new ’Spotlight on Members’ section with this month’s focus on: TB Alliance, Thalaessemia International Federation, Mental Health Europe, and IAVI.
Read all the online articles of our Newsletter for March 2008
EPHA members can find the following new information in the Members Only section:
Please note that if an EPHA member would like to highlight their activities in the EPHA Newsletter, the deadline to submit a news item is Friday 25 April 2008. The staff member responsible for the newsletter is Daniela Negri.
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