The health ministers of the European Union countries will be meeting informally in Warsaw on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 March for working sessions on mental health and medicines.
The first debate on Tuesday, chaired by the Polish Minister for Health, Izabela Leszczyna, will focus on the mental health of children and adolescents, and in particular the impact of digital technologies on the lives of children and young people.
At a working lunch, the health ministers have been invited by the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU to discuss ways of “reinforcing the safety of medicinal products in the EU by focusing on the patient’s point of view”. This topic will provide an opportunity for the Health Ministers to discuss the pharmaceutical package (the EU Council has still not adopted a common position) and the European Commission’s recent proposal on critical medicines (see EUROPE 13604/21).
Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Health, indicated that he would use this informal meeting to call on the ministers to reach agreement on the reform of pharmaceutical legislation (see EUROPE 13604/20).
A final working session will be held on health promotion and disease prevention, focusing on “the effectiveness of prevention strategies and programmes implemented in the Member States”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)