#EAPM - Update: Romanian health minister addresses ENVI on presidential priorities

Earlier this week in the European Parliament, Romania’s Minister of Health Sorina Pintea (pictured) held a meeting with the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (or ENVI) to underline her country’s commitments in terms of public health during its six-month rotating presidency of the EU, writes European Alliance for Persoanalised Medicine (EAPM) Executive Director Denis Horgan.

These, Romania has said, include promoting universal access to treatment for all those who need it, fighting antimicrobial resistance, improving vaccination coverage, reducing medication abuse and improving the control of transmissible diseases.

At the same time, Minister Pintea has made it clear that patient mobility will be a special topic of the Romanian Presidency, and among other things, an exchange of views will be held on the application of patients' rights in cross-border health care while her country is in the chair.

During the meeting in Parliament the Minister told ENVI that, in the field of health, the Presidency will continue to advance the EU agenda on topics that are important to European patients.   On the Commission’s plans for health technology assessment, a major sticking point at the moment, she pointed out that HTA is the only legislative file on the EPSCO Health Council agenda, adding that Romania wants to continue the negotiations as a priority.

Minister Pintea says she is convinced that patients and healthcare systems can benefit from closer co-operation in HTA. She did, however, concede that Council is split on the application and consequences of enhanced co-operation, yet at the same time insisted that all member state delegations are in favour of co-operation at EU level.

Moving forward on the issue is not, she suggested,an easy task but the Presidency will do all it  can to make breakthroughs in the coming weeks and months.

Meanwhile, technical negotiations in the Council will continue, and Parliament will be updated at the EPSCO Council to be held in June.

The minister pointed out that several working party meetings have also been scheduled, with the first having already been held.

AMR - antimicrobial resistance  

The minister flagged AMR as an important topic for Member States, which have seen a rise in this area. The minister told ENVI that, on 1 March, the Presidency will host a ministerial conference on making the EU a good-practice region on AMR. Health ministers and representatives from veterinary and environmental sectors will be invited.

The purpose, Minster Pintea said, is to identify necessary actions to improve prevention, adding that Romania will propose Council Conclusions based on the conference.

Vaccines    

Regarding vaccines, the minister said that the Presidency wants to broker good practices and to increase the use of vaccinations. With this in mind, Romania will organize a workshop on vaccination programmes in the EU, to include experts and national vaccination and co-ordination programmes, plus health ministry representatives.

Also expected to attend will be representatives from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, from WHO and from UNICEF.

Access to medicines    

Clearly this is a huge topic. The minister told the ENVI committee that her country’s Presidency will continue the strategic debate on patients' access to affordable and sustainable novel medications and therapies. Access to high-quality treatments is a priority, the minister said.

Patient mobility 

Patient mobility, meanwhile, will be a key topic at the informal health ministers’ meeting in April, in the context of the cross-border healthcare directive. Romania will seek to identify ways to bring about enhanced co-operation between member states, especially in the area of rare diseases. A clear goal is to find ways to better implement the directive on cross-border health care.      The minister said that Romania wants to give rare-disease patients access to required medication or treatment outside their own countries, if it is not possible in their own member state. Medicines for rare diseases also need to be better distributed, the Presidency believes.

Digitalization

Minister Pintea put a focus on the importance of digitalization in health down the line. As part of  the third Digital Day, Romania will organize a ministerial meeting with the eHealth network.     The country will prioritize cancer patients, given that the numbers are rising, and in July, it will host a meeting in Bucharest on cancer control and prevention.

Minister Pintea, meanwhile, pointed to the fact that her country’s Presidency will be in place during important events such as Brexit, the European Parliament elections and the Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations.

She wrapped up her comments by saying that Romania has high ambitions for its mandate and asked for Parliament’s support during the upcoming tasks.

For their part, MEPs on the ENVI committee also flagged up obesity, and artificial intelligence in health care, which Minister Pintea duly noted as important issues.

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