Brussels, 10/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 10 December, the Health Council adopted conclusions relating to the debate on healthcare systems reform, in an effort to make them into modern and sustainable undertakings that can adapt to what is needed.
The dual objective pursued is to guarantee equal and universal access to high quality healthcare and to ensure funding based on the principle of solidarity and the most efficient use of public resources. The text looks at the progress achieved since the launch of the reflection process in June 2011 and analyses the difficulties national health systems are currently having to confront. It calls on the Commission and the member states to continue their efforts to find efficient ways to invest in health. Health is a value in its own right but sustainable, high-performance and less costly systems would provide added value because they help towards attaining European targets on growth, highlighted Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg.
The Lithuanian minister for health, Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, insisted on a cross-cutting assessment of health policy in all other policies that have an impact on the sector and said that “we have to create a political dialogue on how health issues are treated in the 2020 strategy and the European Semester”. Borg called for ways to be found to help promote reflection on the price of medicines and treating chronic diseases.
The Lithuanian Presidency also informed ministers of the progress achieved in the inter-institutional discussions on the tobacco directive, on the eve of the second trialogue with the EP and Commission on Wednesday 11 December. “A majority of member states is in favour of a Europe that is less dominated by the tobacco industry… There is not a lot left to broach with the EP during the trialogue or during the discussions with the Commission” (our translation throughout). Among the controversial points, however, remains the difficult question of the legal status that should be applied to electronic cigarettes. The Commission and member states voted in June to classify e-cigarettes as “medicine”, whereas the EP wanted them to be freely sold on the market. (IL/transl.fl)