DG SANCO

The European Commission has adopted a new regulation to ensure safety of food packaging made of recycled plastics. This new action sets the conditions under which the manufacturers of food contact materials can use recycled plastics.
Regulation (EC) 282/2008 on recycled plastic materials and articles was adopted on 27/03/2008 in order to ensure the safety of food packaging made of recycled plastics. The present Regulation:
Sets the conditions under which the manufacturers of food contact (...)

The EPHA Secretariat attended the Infoday on the Call for Proposals of the new EU Public Health Programme in Luxembourg on 12 March 2008.
This day was organised by Public Health Executive Agency (PHEA) in co-operation with DG Sanco. Please find all the presentations from the Information day in Luxembourg on 12 March 2008 available on the PHEA website:
In the morning a general introduction of the new EU Public Health Programme was given to the participants. PHEA, DG Sanco and DG Research (...)

The European Commission is to publish in November 2008 a Communication on rare diseases. Therefore, it has been called a public consultation concerning a European action in the field of rare diseases. Responses to such consultation should be sent to the European Commission by 14 February 2008.
Rare diseases are life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases that have a low prevalence in population (less than 5 per 10 000 persons) and therefore need special efforts to tackle (...)

DG SANCO has published their work programme for 2008 which outlines the legislative and non legislative initiatives that are scheduled for the next 12 months
Following the agreement on the Reform Treaty in October 2007, Member States face the challenge of ratifying the Treaty in record time in 2008 so that the text is adopted before the European Parliament elections in June 2009.
Related to these big questions on the future of Europe, DG Budget will launch a review of the EU to examine (...)

The European Commission DG SANCO, in partnership with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), have launched a new TV advertising campaign to encourage physical activity, which will be broadcasted in Europe during the Champions League matches, in September 2007.
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_deter... The Commission’s campaign, which slogan is “Go on, get out of your armchair”, aims to encourage European citizens to make physical activity part of their daily lives. The (...)

Procedure for dialogue with Stakeholders unveiled for DG SANCOs advisory scientific committees.

The Health-EU Portal of the European Commission is now available in 20 of the official EU languages, and has just sent out the "Zero edition" of its online newsletter.
The Health-EU Portal
The Health-EU Portal aims to provide European Citizens with an easy access to reliable, multilingual and comprehensive information on Public Health initiatives and programmes at EU level.
The Portal was launched in English in May 2006 at the health conference in Málaga, Spain. From May 2006 to March (...)

The European Commission published on 1 June 2007 a report on the results of the consultation to the EU Health Strategy, which received more than 150 contributions.
In its summary of the consultation, the European Commission acknowledges many of the contributions made by the health community. Several elements of EPHA’s contribution are taken into account in the summary of the consultation.
The general points made by the contributors to this consultation are listed below:
Support to the (...)

The European Commission (DG SANCO) and the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe have launched seven new jointly funded projects in the area of health. The projects will implemented by WHO/Europe over a three-year period.
The overall budget for the projects is 4,232,963, with the European Union’s Public Health Programme covering 60% of the cost. The two organisations will work together at political, technical and operational levels, with the aim of providing better support (...)

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) commemorates its fifth aniversary in 2007.
The EFSA began operating in 2002. Provisionally based in Brussels its permanet home is Parma (Italy). During the last five years it has been responsible for providing scientific advice on all matters concerning food safety in the European Union. Its work covers the whole food production process, from primary production to the supply of food to consumers.
In order to increase their visibility and the (...)