Europa

When it comes to the ongoing vaccination crisis the daily news look very grim. From Europe being the world’s most vaccine sceptic region to conspiracy theories spread by anti-vaxxers – the hopes are not too high that the situation will improve over night. But what can be done to change people’s minds and win back their trust? Is the introduction of mandatory vaccinations in many Member States the right way or do we need a stronger push at European level from the European Commission?

In our January edition we toyed with the idea that healthcare could become the superstar topic to win the voters’ hearts. And apparently we weren’t so wrong with that idea. From Manfred Weber’s “European Master Plan against cancer” to Jean-Claude Juncker’s recommendations for the new Commission not to drop health care topics – the awareness is there. But how do we move from mere awareness to tangible actions that improve the healthcare of EU citizens? The answer lies in the ballot on the 26th!

The European Parliament has just voted on the new Research Framework Program FP9, better known as Horizon Europe. The program shall foster research and innovation across the European Union and constitutes one of the big chunks of the next EU budget in the period of 2021-2027. Whereas many of the projects are concerned with innovation and the future of healthcare in Europe, the European Union does finance many more projects that directly affect the life and health of its citizens.

The Cross Border Health Care Directive could be the poster child when it comes to tangible benefits the European Union has to offer its citizens. Although already passed in 2011, European citizens hardly know anything about it and therefore hardly seize the opportunities they have. How is it possible that the EU only receives negative feedback while substantially improving the life of its citizens?

Das Vereinigte Königreich könnte am 29. März die EU ohne ein Abkommen verlassen – und damit ohne Maßnahmen für eine sichere Arzneimittelversorgung. Dazu sagt Dr. Martin Zentgraf, Vorstandsvorsitzender des Bundesverbandes der Pharmazeutischen Industrie e.V. (BPI): „Das britische Parlament besiegelt politisch und wirtschaftlich unsichere Zeiten."

A Eurobarometer report showed that the European citizens want the European Union to do more on health. A demand that seems impossible to fulfil as the Member States have a history of strongly securing this department for themselves. But times are changing and some threats such as vaccination hesitancy cannot be handled only by national health care systems. Could health care be the new superstar topic which will get people to the polling stations in May 2019?

Dr. Martin Zentgraf, Vorstandsvorsitzender des Bundesverbands der pharmazeutischen Industrie e.V. (BPI) zur Einigung zwischen der EU und Großbritannien über einen geregelten Brexit: "Die pharmazeutische Industrie braucht Rechtssicherheit, um die EU und Großbritannien weiterhin mit qualitativen Arzneimitteln zu versorgen."

Yesterday, the British cabinet took more than 5 hours to discuss a 500 page document which shall organize a structured separation between the UK and the EU. Final outcome: the cabinet supports the draft deal and all ministers, except for one, are on board – at least for now. However, what seems to be glimpse of euphoria, is far from a happy end, since nothing has been decided yet!

Auch für die Arzneipolitik ist Brüssel ein Hotspot. Was hier diskutiert und auf den Weg gebracht wird, kann schon morgen als Verordnung für die EU-Mitgliedsländer gelten. Hier einige aktuelle Themen: