Newsletter January 2008

IDUs’ access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care in Central and Eastern Europe

On November 24-25 2007, the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) in partnership with the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) held a seminar in Vilnius, Lithuania, entitled Access to HIV treatment drugs for injecting drug users (IDUs) in Central and Eastern Europe. The seminar was organised within the framework of the “AIDS Action & Integration”, led by AIDES and funded by the European Commission (DG SANCO).
The Action and Integration project is designed to promote the (...)

January 2008 Newsletter

Welcome to the January 2008 edition of the EPHA Newsletter.
As public health advocates, we work towards building a society where all individuals enjoy the greatest possible physical and mental health and everyone has the opportunity to participate fully and equally in society.
We are from this ideal today. Health inequalities have grown within EU countries and across the European region. Further afield, without major global efforts it is unlikely that the Millennium Development Goals will (...)

Secretariat News January 2008

Events organised by EPHA
On 11 January 2008, the EPHA secretariat met the new Brussels based association manager for ASPHER(Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region). The EPHA secretariat and ASPHER talked about future challenges concerning public health in the EU.
Meetings and events attended by EPHA
On 9 January 2008, Daniela Negri attended the first formal meeting of the Parliament Interest Group on Carers held in the European Parliament. The report is available (...)

FEANTSA supports a parliamentary initiative to end street homelessness

The European Federation on National Organisations working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) is supporting a cross-party written declaration on ending street homelessness.
FEANTSA supports a parliamentary initiative to end homelessness calling upon :
the Council to obtain an EU-wide commitment to end street homelessness by 2015;
the Commission to develop a European framework definition of homelessness, elicit statistical data, and provide annual updates on action taken and progress made in EU (...)

EPHA response to DG SANCO discussion document ’Future challenges paper 2009-2014’

In November 2007, DG SANCO published an online consultation on a document called Future Challenges 2009-2014, with a deadline of 31 December 2007. Hereby it is presented EPHA response to this publication.
The Future Challenges 2009-2014 launched by DG SANCO in November 2007 followed the publication of the EU Health Strategy for 2008-2013. Since a general overview of both publications did not demonstrate a consistent approach, EPHA response focused on those evident discrepancies. (...)

Commission defends biofuels in face of mounting criticism

The EU’s energy and agriculture commissioners are defending the bloc’s commitment to biofuels, following calls by a UK parliamentary committee for a moratorium on the promotion of the controversial alternative to fossil fuels.
On 23 January 2008, the Commission unveiled its proposal on biofuels as part of a wider climate and energy ’package’
Mounting criticism on biofuels
Fuels from vegetable oil, sugar, corn and a number of other crops and plants, collectively known as biofuels, are (...)

*Updated* 11 Member States have ratified the Treaty of Lisbon

The Treaty of Lisbon was signed by EU leaders on 13 December 2007. It provides for an institutional overhaul after the draft EU Constitution was rejected in referenda in France and the Netherlands in 2005. The new Treaty streamlines decision-making, slims down the institutions and creates the new posts of a permanent EU President and a foreign representative.
http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/inde...
How will it be ratified?
Most countries plan to ratify the Lisbon Treaty through their (...)

This is the last full calendar year of activity for the Barroso Commission and the annual workplan outlines the key initiatives.

While health policy is not a high priority for the Commission, many of their actions this year have an impact on health.

2008: European year of inter-cultural dialogue

On 8 January 2008, the Presidents of the European Commission and Parliament José Manuel Barroso and Hans-Gert Pöttering together with Slovene Prime Minister Janez Jansa, launched the "European year of inter-cultural dialogue" (EYID). Over the next twelve months, € 10 million will be spent on information campaigns, activities and projects promoting culture, education, youth, sport and citizenship.
The EYID 2008 has two goals:
promoting inter-cultural dialogue to enable European (...)

MEPs discuss a strategy to protect children’s rights

On Tuesday 15 January 2008, MEPs debated how to strengthen a European Strategy to protect the rights of children. The Parliament called for tougher measures to combat paedophilia on the Internet as well as to tackle child sex tourism and child labour.
European Parliamentarians in plenary session adopted the Roberta Angelilli report on the Commission’s Communication "Towards an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child".
The strategy calls for children’s rights to be mainstreamed in all (...)

*Updated* Slovenian Presidency: Priorities for health (January 2008 - June 2008)

As from 1 January 2008, Slovenia is the first new EU member States to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In order to keep the European citizens informed they have created a website for the Slovenian Presidency:. At the Slovenian Presidency website a link leads to the web portal of participation of Slovenian NGO’s in the Slovenian Presidency:. Slovenian and foreign NGO’s will have the opportunity to participate in the Slovenian presidency of the European (...)

EFSA opens a consultation on animal cloning

EFSA is launching a public consultation on its draft scientific opinion on the implications of animal cloning on food safety, animal health and welfare and the environment

New proposal to revise the EU law on Novel Foods

On 14 January 2008, the European Commission released their draft of a new Regulation to encourage safe novel foods in the European Union.
The European Commission wants to improve the access of new and innovative food to the EU market.
The draft Regulation, proposes that novel foods would be subject to a centralised authorisation procedure. This would be more efficient and enable novel foods to reach the EU market faster.
Markos Kyprianou, European Commissioner for Health, argues that EU (...)

Gender inequalities in working conditions in the EU

A report examining the extent of occupational differences by gender and the impacts on the quality of working life for men and women was published in December 2007.
The report was based upon data collected by the fourth European working conditions survey carried out across 31 countries, including the 27 EU Member States.
Working Conditions in the European Union: the gender perspective Three main issues examined by the publication Working conditions in the European Union: the gender (...)

European Risk Management Strategy on medicines launched

At their meeting in Funchal (Portugal) held in November 2007 the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA)and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) adopted a two-year work programme to enact a European Risk Management Strategy (ERMS) on medicines.
The European Risk Management Strategy aims to conduct pharmacovigilance through measures allowing the early detection, assessment, minimisation and communication of risks of medicines in Europe during their life cycle.
For the work programme 2008-2009 the (...)

The Right to Health and aid effectiveness top global health agenda

The activities of the Action for Global Health Network to which EPHA belongs will this year focus on aid effectiveness with the Right to Health also being a high profile topic in 2008.

eHealth flagged as a priority sector for growth

The European Commission has called for quick action and strengthened national co-operation on lead market opportunities for eHealth in order to increase economic benefits and improve quality of health services.
http://ec.europa.eu/information_soc...
"The prospective return on investment of eHealth is relatively high when compared to the costs inherent in the health sector," argues a Commission report on accelerating the development of the eHealth market in Europe, published in late December (...)

Deadly new form of MRSA emerges

Antibiotic resistance contributes towards the emergence of a new deadly strain of the superbug MRSA which can lead to a flesh-eating form of pneumonia.
So far only two cases of the new form of the USA300 strain of the bug have been recorded in the UK.
The new strain is resistant to treatment by many front-line antibiotics. It causes large boils on the skin, and in severe cases can lead to fatal blood poisoning or necrotising pneumonia, which eats away at the lungs.
MRSA evolution
The (...)

EU report highlights the precarious working conditions for migrants

A study by a specialised unit of the European Agency for Safety and Work (EU-OSHA), unveils the risky working conditions faced by many migrants.
The report published by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), was researched and written by the European Risk Observatory (ERO) and analyses issues related to occupational safety and health of migrant workers.
The overview of migrant workers is complex. Migrants can be found concentrated in some high skill sectors such IT. (...)

ECDC pilot study uncovers the burden of infectious diseases in Europe

A pilot study undertaken by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) sheds light on the burden of infectious diseases in Europe.
The pilot study was designed to test the potential use of the disease burden concept in the field of infectious diseases, including data quality and availability.
The disease burden of seven infectious diseases (influenza, measles, HIV, campylobacteriosis, infection (...)

European Patients’ Rights Day 2008

The 2008 celebration of the second edition of the European Patients’ Rights Day will take place on 18 April 2008 in each member state. The Active Citizenship Network calls upon organisations active in the health field to organise events to emphasise the initiative. Organisations that wish to take part in the European Day will have had to confirm their participation by 17 January 2008.
Following the promising results achieved at the first European Patients’ Rights Days held on 29 March 2007 (...)

**update** Big pharma groups raided in EU antitrust probe

This article is an update regarding the renewal of patents of pharmaceuticals companies in the infectious disease market.
The two biggest sectors for drugs targeting infectious disease, antibiotics and antifungals, have seen major decline over 2005-2006. Imminent patent expiries of major products urge pharmaceutical companies to decide what sort of presence they should maintain in the market.
Some experts claim that this would have a positive effect on the market since certain (...)

Nigeria takes on tobacco giants

Nigeria’s government is suing three international tobacco firms for $44bn (£22bn) - the first such case in the developing world - due to start in the capital, Abuja.
Dossier
Nigeria’s government says tobacco manufacturers are putting unacceptable pressure on the country’s health services, and companies are targeting younger and younger people in an attempt to replace former smokers in Europe and America.
British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris and International Tobacco Ltd, deny (...)

Future EU legislation on Health Services

After repeated delays, the proposal for a Directive on Health services was shelved on 19 December 2007 due to internal disagreement within the Commission and heavy criticism from some MEPs.
The proposal could be either redrafted, withdrawn or downgraded.
In an article on "Confusion surrounds EU’s health services directive", Euractiv published some comments, including those from EPHA.
Background
Health systems are primarily the responsibility of the Member States, but in some cases, as (...)