During the informal meeting of European health ministers in Budapest on Thursday, 25 July, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU hoped to encourage the adoption of additional measures to facilitate organ donation and transplantation.
“Organ donation is a lifesaver, but [it’s also] one of the most effective interventions for the treatment of certain chronic diseases. This is the reason why we need more donations and transplants in the future”, declared Hungarian Minister of State for Health Péter Takács during a press conference after the informal meeting, which had a limited number of national health ministers in attendance. Even the European Commission was not represented during the press conference.
Péter Takács acknowledged that the success of the EU Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation between 2009 and 2015 enabled the number of organ donations to increase 21%. He believes, “It shows that cooperation is key and that another new action plan is needed”.
The Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU said in summary that the questions focused on how Member States are handling the lack of organ donations, on what challenges they are facing in the development of organ donation and transplantation systems, on what tools are on hand to eliminate existing inequalities among Member States, and on what support the European Union can provide so as to bolster Member States’ efforts in this area.
A separate debate was held on cardiovascular diseases (with Council conclusions on this subject expected in December). “Therefore, in the future, we need coherent strategies”, declared Péter Takács, who believes that it is essential to take on these challenges—not only for public health reasons but also to ensure healthcare systems’ sustainability. Member States have stressed the need for preventive measures to combat risk factors (smoking, alcohol, etc.) and the importance of better treatment options and equal access to medical treatments across the EU.
“Six countries are represented by their ministers, in addition to eight state secretaries. Now, given the fact that we are having summer holidays here and there, this is not a bad number”, concluded Péter Takács. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)