Newsletter October 2009

Welcome to the October 2009 Newsletter

This month has been busier than normal for the time of year, with Brussels rallying to organise itself following the election of a new Parliament in June, and the imminent departure and new appointment of the College of Commissioners. With the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, Brussels are now looking to a period of further change with no clear way forward for how health will be organised and led in Europe. It is still uncertain whether DG Health and Consumers will remain as it is now, or indeed whether it be separated. EPHA is supporting the Parliament’s pressure on the Commission to move pharmaceutical policy and medical devices to the portfolio of the Health Commissioner, and away from the Commissioner for Industry and Enterprise where it currently sits.

The publication of the Communication on Health Inequalities, continuing work on the economic crisis and the continuing threat from the H1N1 virus ensures that the policy agenda has been revitalised in this term. We will see attention coming back to Patient Rights, Information to Patients and other dossiers that were very important before the summer recess and the battle on food labelling is still ongoing.

Read all the online articles from our Newsletter October 2009

EPHA members can find the following new information in the Members Only section :
 Response to the Court of Auditors Report on the 1st Public Health Programme
 Comments on the implementation of the EU Health Strategy
 EPHA Briefing: Proposed Directive on Pharmacovigilance
  EPHA’s Annual General Assembly 2009
 EPHA Draft Budget for year 2010
 Final Minutes EPHA Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) - 28 November 2008
 Policy Coordination Meeting 2009

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 20 November 2009. Please send your items to the EPHA Secretariat