“Member States must have sufficient stocks of medicines as part of their short- and long-term preparedness”, said Swedish Minister of Health Acko Ankarberg Johansson after the informal meeting of EU health ministers in Stockholm on Friday 5 May.
She stressed the importance of seeking a “balance between accessibility and affordability of medicinal products”.
“We discussed crisis preparedness and access to medicines and stressed the need to make effective and affordable medicines available to all European patients”, said Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health.
19 countries have called for ambitious measures to avoid shortages (see EUROPE 13174/9).
Covid-19. Stella Kyriakides also welcomed the WHO Director-General’s statement that Covid-19 “is no longer a global health emergency”. This means we are entering a new phase of the pandemic”, she added.
Shortage warning system. “Taken together, these measures show the sea of change we are bringing to build a real European Health Union, where no one is left behind”, said the Commissioner (https://aeur.eu/f/6qc ), after reiterating the elements of the ‘medicines’ package providing for a “new European alert system against shortages”.
Several initiatives are planned: - a European list of critical medicines in order to monitor their availability and address supply chain weaknesses; - pharmaceutical companies will have to introduce shortage prevention plans for their medicines and give earlier notification of potential shortages and withdrawals.
The European Medicines Agency will play a greater role in monitoring and coordinating action against shortages and, if necessary, the Commission will be able to adopt legally binding measures to address them. Stockpiling and contingency stocks become options that are available when needed and appropriate.
“To prepare for the next health crisis, we need to invest in emergency preparedness”, the Commissioner added. The EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is already at the forefront of this effort. “Overcoming shortages of medicines is a crucial objective – both for our citizens and our health systems”, Kyriakides concluded.
Innovative medicines. These innovative treatments are promising, according to the Swedish Minister of Health. However, new medicines are often reserved for a small number of patients and their price is high, she lamented. There are still needs to be met (antimicrobial medicines and medicines for orphan diseases), she added.
“We have been looking at new funding models and the need for an increased amount of reliable data”, said Acko Ankarberg Johansson.
Stella Kyriakides considers it necessary to “continue to encourage companies to innovate and to be leaders in the global market”. She defended her proposals to create a single market for medicines.
“We are trying to find mechanisms and solutions that will also give small countries, countries that are not as rich as others, the chance to have these medicines appear at the same time and be available for all Europeans from the beginning”, explained Polish Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski.
Ukraine. Ukrainian Minister of Health Viktor Liashko explained the situation of the healthcare system in the country in this time of war. Acko Ankarberg Johansson stressed that “EU countries are cooperating to help the Ukrainian healthcare system”.
“The extent of the damage to the medical sector in Ukraine is enormous”, Niedzielski said. He added: “We are talking about buildings, infrastructure, ambulances, but also human losses. We discussed how the system should be rebuilt, what the model should be, and how we should help”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)