After the Council, it is the European Parliament that has now taken up its pilgrim staff and is quizzing the European Commission about its plans to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and hepatitis C. The MEPs will ask questions of the European Commission before passing a non-legislative resolution on 6 July.
In 2015, nearly 30,000 new cases of HIV were recorded in the 31 countries of the European Union and European Economic Area. It is estimated that in Europe, 120,000 individuals have contracted a multi-resistant form of tuberculosis. Hepatitis C is globally one of the most serious threats to public health.
Against this backdrop, the MEPs will quiz the European Commission on how it is planning to meet the objectives laid down in its report ‘Next stages for a sustainable European future,’ viz. eradicating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and stemming the hepatitis epidemic by 2030, and financial resources to this end. They recommend adopting ‘long-term and sustained programmes, often targeting overlapping population groups, adding that there are potential synergies and savings in integrating prevention services.’
Alongside this question with a request for an oral answer, the MEPs will pass a non-legislative resolution co-drafted by all political groups (including Europe of Nations and Freedom) on behalf of the European Parliament’s environment committee. The resolution will encourage member states to provide free HIV screening and will urge the European Commission, Council and member states to put in place ‘an EU-wide harmonised infection surveillance programme that can detect outbreaks of viral hepatitis, TB and HIV in a timely manner, assess trends in incidence, provide disease burden estimates and effectively track in real time the diagnosis, treatment and care cascade.’ The MEPs will suggest that the Commission should launch a multidisciplinary plan in coordination with the member states to render uniform screening protocols and treatment for hepatitis C. The draft resolution can be found at: http://bit.ly/2tCu7Ef (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)