The European Parliament is calling for a “comprehensive Union policy for tackling HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis cases”. After putting oral questions to the European Commission at the beginning of the week, MEPs adopted a non-legislative resolution outlining the main areas in which the EU should be working (see EUROPE 11820).
In this case, MEPs are recommending that for HIV, they should introduce free screening tests and facilitate access to innovative treatments. Tuberculosis is the main cause of death with people living with HIV and MEPs call for cross-border measures to prevent its spread. MEPs say that with regard to hepatitis, the Commission should put in place a hepatitis C eradication plan throughout the Union for the period leading up to 2030, which should harmonise screening, control and treatment protocols.
This resolution was adopted by a show of hands and followed an exchange of views earlier in the week with Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, who was accused of “passivity” by Katerina Konecna (GUE/NGL, Czech Republic). In reply, the Commission for Health asserted that he was assessing the problem and pointed out that Commission’s approach had been outlined in the “Next Steps for a Sustainable European Future” communication.
The Commission affirmed that it intended to follow this communication up by presenting action plans and launching a common “Integrate” action to improve the quality of prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV/AIDS), tuberculosis and viral hepatitis. The Commission announced, “This common action will begin in September for three years and will help member states to develop their policies for integrating early diagnosis and care for HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and other infections”. A budget of €2.5 million was also announced in this regard. The Commissioner was asked about the exorbitant prices of certain treatments and he called on MEPs to put pressure on their rather reticent member states in context, to cooperate. He also indicated that the Commission might possibly support, “start-up projects, the maintenance of databases or even information gathering on national prices”. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)