Health Rights and Patients

[Joint Press Statement] Access to medicines in Europe: The EU cannot save banks while sacrificing people’s health

Brussels, 17 May – In a seminar hosted yesterday by the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament and the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Alejandro Cercas (S&D, Spain), six MEPs from various political groups (1) along with representatives of governments, leading academics, researches and public health organisations (2) met to raise awareness about one of the most alarming issues that European healthcare systems (...)

[2013 Patients’ Rights Day] Putting patients in the driver’s seat

On the occasion of 2013 Patients’ Rights Day (May 15) EPHA would like to stress that, although much progress has been made, there is still a lot of scope for health systems to benefit from an obvious, yet commonly underutilized and underestimated resource: patients themselves. As patients and consumers of health services - and we all fall into this category throughout our lives - we build up an enormous amount of knowledge over the years that takes various forms. Some individuals, (...)

[Water is a Human Right campaign] First ever European Citizens Initiative to make it !

Brussels, 7 May - The first ever European Citizens Initiative (ECI) – Water is a Human Right! – has collected over 1.5 million signatures across Europe. Eight countries have just passed the minimum number of signatures required. The European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Water is a Human Right!’ is a pan-European initiative calling for the European Union (EU) to guarantee clean drinking water and quality sanitation for everyone living in Europe. EPHA, one of the (...)

[EPT] Clinical Trials – new Regulation - Proposal for the Clinical Trials Regulation (CTD) - (updated on 30 April 2013)

Clinical trials Clinical trials are “Investigations in humans intended to discover or verify the effects of one or more investigational medicinal products (IMPs)”. Trials conducted in the European Union (EU) are currently governed by Directive 2001/20/EC (the Clinical Trials Directive, CTD) but these guidelines have been implemented differently across member states, thereby failing to reduce red tape and increasing costs. Consequently, in July 2012, the Commission published its (...)

[Seminar report] Can EU Citizens Afford Their Medicines?

This high level meeting revolved around various political processes linked to the economic crisis. Some of the topics discussed include implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy, as well as pharmaceutical legislation for ensuring that people living in Europe have access to a wide range of quality and affordable medicines. The meeting hosted by Mr Alejandro Cercas, MEP (Spain,S&D) and by the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D Group) served to assess the impact (...)

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) publishes list of drugs under additional monitoring

As one of the deliverables of the pharmacovigilance legislation, that came into effect in July 2012, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) released an initial list of drugs subject to additional monitoring on 25 April 2013. Please click here to read the full EMA Press Release, which contains additional information. How to identify them? Medicines subject to additional monitoring will have to display an inverted back triangle in their package leaflet and in the information for healthcare (...)

Clinical trials: Exploring the limits of transparency

Glenis Willmott MEP (S&D, UK) took the initiative to bring together experts to discuss the extent to which more transparency could be workable in non-commercial clinical trials. The debate, which took place in the European Parliament on 10 April, served to present the key arguments for and against increased transparency in the context of administrative and data reporting requirements for academic researchers and patient safety. EPHA’s Position on Clinical Trials urges political (...)

[EPT] Medical devices - Regulation (recast) - Medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices (17 April 2013)

Medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices. The term “medical device” covers an extremely diverse range of healthcare instruments – from simple bandages and dressings to tongue depressors, medical thermometers and blood sugar meters to pacemakers and life-supporting products, as well as eHealth devices which communicate remotely. The medical devices industry constitutes a key sector for healthcare. It is one of the most dynamic sectors, improving and saving (...)

New evidence on access to healthcare: austerity marginalises Europe’s weakest

On 9 April 2013, EPHA member Medecins du Monde European office (MdM) launched a new report that documents the effects of the economic crisis and rising xenophobia on undocumented migrants and other vulnerable groups at risk of exclusion from healthcare systems. Results show that the consequences of austerity measures are particularly strong in Southern Europe where many undocumented migrants are living in an administrative limbo. They are being joined by increasing numbers of European (...)

European Medicines Agency Workshop on Medication Errors

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) organised a workshop on Medication Errors on 28 February – 1 March, a timely event given that such incidents are much more frequent across Europe than is commonly known. They are the most common preventable cause of adverse events in medication practice. The workshop was opened by EMA Director Guido Rasi who stated that, although the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions to the EMA-administered EudraVigilance database forms an integral part (...)