Sopot, 06/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The informal meeting of European health ministers in Sopot, Poland, came to an end on Wednesday 6 July. Poland triggered discussion on two subjects never before tackled at European ministerial level, namely problems relating to synthetic drugs and the prevention of communication disorders among children. Participants also discussed the E.coli epidemic but without there being any concrete initiative taken as a result of the debates.
Poland stated its resolve to promote its very restrictive legislation on synthetic drugs at European level. According to Polish Health Minister Ewa Kopacz, many European ministers (including those from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy and Cyprus) showed they were interested in a law inspired by Polish legislation which places a deterrent ban on certain psychotropic substances.
“The biggest problem is the distribution of synthetic drugs by internet”, Kopacz said during a press conference after the meeting. “We should like to take European-wide action to combat this form of distribution”, she added. Poland's Under-Secretary of State for Health Adam Fonczak went on to assert that “it makes no sense to ban these substances in a single member state. We must work on a law that is common to the Union as a whole”. Polish officials announced, moreover, that further to an initiative put forward by Poland, the Commission (DG Justice) is preparing a report in this field, due to be published in coming weeks.
On the subject of combating communication disorders in children, Kopacz announced that this subject has reached consensus among the 27 EU member states and that the ministers are likely to adopt conclusions on it during the EPSCO Council on 2 December. Conclusions will be on the screening for and the early treatment of such problems, according to European-wide harmonised standards.
European ministers also carried out an exchange of best practice on subjects as varied as health, transplantology and health determinants (diet and physical activity). The Polish Presidency announced that two other conclusions were being studied for the EPSCO Council in December - one on reducing inequality between member states by acting on health determinants, and the other on respiratory problems in children (allergies and asthma). (Cor/transl.jl)