Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices

From the 1st January to the 30 June 2012, Denmark will hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU, with four overarching priorities: a responsible Europe; a dynamic Europe; A green Europe; a safe Europe. In the health field, the Danish presidency will prioritise six main issues. 1 Action Programme in the Field of Health In 2011, the European Commission presented its proposal for a new Framework Programme in the field of Health called Health For Growth. The Danish Presidency plans to (...)

The European Medicines Agency, the European Commission’s Agency charged with approving and monitoring medicines on the European market has a new Executive Director. Professor Guido Rasi, whose previous role was as Director-General of the Italian Medicines Agency (2008-2011), during which time he also served as a member of the European Medicines Agency’s Management Board. Professor Rasi was nominated as EMA Executive Director with a renewable 5-year mandate by the Management (...)

Ahead of the expected release by the European Commission of the revised proposal on ’Information to Patients on prescription medicines’, the European Public Health Alliance is releasing its position on the file. The EPHA position paper on Information to Patients examines the issue of the provision of information to patients from a public health perspective - looking at the impact it could have on patients, health spending, regulatory agencies such as the EMA. EPHA press (...)

The European Parliament adopted a resolution requesting tighter controls on the use of antimicrobials - such as antibiotics. The resolution is non-binding on the EU and its Member States but gives a strong signal on what the European Parliament expects on the issue. The European Parliament adopted a resolution requesting tighter controls on the use of antimicrobials - such as antibiotics. The resolution is non-binding on the EU and its Member States but gives a strong signal on what the (...)

The European Commission adopted revised proposals on ’Information to Patients, a legislative procedure that seeks to frame what information people can receive on prescription-only medicines, by whom and how. The European Commission revised its 2008 proposals to respond to European parliament requests and strong concerns from within the Council (ie Ministers). The public health community also expressed a strong opposition to the proposals at the time. According to the European (...)

Health Action International, an EPHA member and the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue, an EPHA partner are co-organising an event on the future Horizons 2020 research programme. MEP Luigi Berlinguer (S&D IT) & MEP Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA BE) are hosting: “Horizon 2020: Investing in the common good” Treating knowledge as a public good in EU research and innovation Horizon (...)

Brussels, 11 October 2011 – The European Commission released today its revised proposal on ‘Information to Patients’ which looks at different ways of providing information on prescribed medicines and the role of the pharmaceutical industry in providing such information on their products directly to people. The public health community cautiously welcomes this controversial and long awaited proposal. Press Release ***For immediate release*** 11 October 2011 Finally: real (...)

The Fourth International Influenza Conference in Malta underlined the need to forge closer links between science and policy, and to address the ongoing dichotomy between the recognised need to vaccinate at-risk groups and the reluctance of individuals - including health professionals - to comply with WHO and EU recommendations. EPHA was invited to attend the Fourth International Influenza Conference in Malta, which brought together leading scientists, academics, policy makers and industry (...)

EPHA members Cancer Research UK and European CanCer Organisation (ECCO) have joined together with other non-commercial and commercial organisations to produce a joint statement on the revision of the EU Clinical Trials Directive. The 16 signing organisations, which include many pan-European organisations, have urged the European Commission to overhaul the Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC to remove some of the administrative burden of setting up and conducting research. They argue that (...)