Newsletter April 2007

Public Health and the EU: an overview (2007)

In 2007 EPHA commissioned an update of our 1995 publication "Public Health and the EU: an overview", now available in 20 languages, as part of the activities of our European project "EPHA’s project: Building the public health community across Europe". The Executive Summaries can be downloaded at the bottom of the page. "Public Health and the EU: an overview" is an introduction to the wide range of European Union (EU) activities that affect public health. It aims to inform local, (...)

*UPDATED* European Seminar on Homelessness - 1 June 2007

EPHA member FEANTSA - the European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless held a one-day seminar on Friday 1 June 2007. The Seminar, entitled "Key elements for a successful local homeless strategy: How can Europe support local authorities to improve the fight against homelessness" took place in Brussels at the Committee of the Regions. The President of the EU Committee of the Regions, Michel Delbarre, spoke at the event on the issue of homelessness. Tools to develop (...)

EPHA Briefing note on TRIPS, access to medicines and the Novartis case

On January 2006 the Indian authorities rejected an application to patent filed by Novartis on the grounds that the drug was a new form of an old drug, and therefore was not patentable under Indian law. In other countries where Novartis has a patent, the drug is sold at $2,600 per patient per month. In India, generic versions of this drug are available for less than $200 per patient per month. Novartis is therefore trying to have the patent decision overturned so that it can sell the drug (...)

April 2007 Newsletter

Welcome to the April 2007 edition of the EPHA newsletter! The International Conference on Health and the EU Enlargement took place between the 16 and 17 of April in Bratislava (Slovakia). 150 participants, 60 speakers, 18 partners involved and 27 European countries represented. The two days event was a mix of plenary sessions, workshops and short presentations where everyone was encouraged to contribute to the debate. The closing session, a one hour brainstorm with Commission Officials (...)

Secretariat News April 2007

Events that EPHA attended On 2 April, Hannah Branston and Frazer Goodwin attended the EU expert workshop on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights at the European Paliament in Brussels, regarding the EU’s input to the global debate. From the afternoon of the 2 April until 5th April Frazer Goodwin attended a meeting of the European Network for Global Health. On 11 April Silvia, Hannah and Anne attended the ENVI Commitee at the European Parliament in Brussels. (...)

Protect children from pesticides!

EPHA and HEAL (Health and Environment Alliance) have sent letters to Members of the European Parliament advocating for a better protection of vulnerable groups, especially children, against hazardous effects of pesticides. MEPS from the Agriculture, ITRE and IMCO committees were asked to vote on an opinion on a regulation on the placing of plant protection products on the market as well as a Directive and a Thematic Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides. The Health & (...)

European Parliament report on Social Services of General Interest

The European Parliament has adopted its own-initiative report on Social Services of General Interest. The report makes clear that SSGIs are one of the pillars of the European Social model. The rapporteur, Joel Hasse Ferreira (PT - PES), criticises the European Commission approach for not being clear enough about the terminology: the European Parliament therefore calls for the European Commission to clarify concepts such as ’public services’, ’services of general (...)

Netherlands Beer Cartel Broken up by European Commission Whistleblower

Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition, announced on 18th April 2007, that the Commission has decided to fine Dutch brewers Heineken, Grolsh and Bavaria a total of €273 million for operating a cartel on the beer market in the Netherlands. Between at least 1996 and 1999, the brewers made secret and illegal agreements to fix prices, divide up markets and exchange confidential information between the competitors. According to the Commission, this practice kept the price of (...)

EPHA Briefing note on the International Health Regulations

In our increasingly interconnected world international travel is more common for more people and over longer distances, leading to greater concerns over the threats posed by infectious disease outbreaks. There has long been recognition of the need to put in-place a systematic approach for authorities to respond to such in the form of agreements on international cooperation on infectious diseases. These agreements have evolved from being rather straightforward and covering a limited number (...)

2007 first UN Road Safety Week: improving road safety for young people

EU road safety day part of a week of road safety events promoted by the United Nations focusing on improving road safety for youth. The United Nations has marked the first Global Road Safety week with a number of events and presentations around the world including, the EU road safety day on 27th April. The week had been called for by a UN General Assembly Resolution and its main theme was youth and road safety. In 2004 the theme of World Health Day had been road safety and the UN road (...)