Brussels, 12/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - Health Ministers of the European Union are to meet on Thursday in Brussels with Magda Alvoet in the chair for a Council devoted to several major issues such as the amendment of the directive on quality and safety norms for blood and blood derived products, and for tobacco advertising. Few decisions are expected but it should nonetheless adopt a recommendation on the use of bacteria-resistant agents, that unfortunately remains very far from the expectations of the European Parliament and the challenge that the argument of resistance to infectious agents presents for public health.
The points on the agenda of the session are:
Blood: The Council is expected to reach a political agreement on a common position concerning the amendment of the 1989 directive on quality and safety norms for the collection, control, processing, storage and distribution of human blood and of blood components. The European Parliament had, during its first reading, according to codecision procedure (see EUROPE of 8 September, p.11), insisted on blood donations being free, a principle on which most Member States remain keen but which does not have unanimous support. The mechanism for the collection of voluntary and free donations poses a problem to Austria which allows payment to donors, to Germany which has a strong industry offering forms of compensation and to the United Kingdom which plans to give up blood collection and to turn to imported supplies.
Tobacco advertising: As Parliament has not yet given its stance in first reading (codecision), the Council will hold a policy debate on the proposal of directive concerning advertising and sponsoring of tobacco products. The proposal adopted in May this year by the European Commission (see EUROPE of 31 May, p.6) takes the criticism of the Court of Justice into account. The Court had cancelled the earlier directive on the same subject. Ministers are to discuss certain tricky aspects of this text such as the dividing line between direct and indirect advertising, sponsoring and advertising on the internet.
WHO framework convention to fight tobacco addiction: Commissioner David Byrne will inform the Council of the state of preparations with a view to the third session of the intergovernmental negotiating body for the future convention, to be held from 22 to 28 November 2001.
Use of anti-microbial agents in human medicine: The Council is expected to adopt a proposal of recommendation without taking into account the opinion of the European Parliament expressed during the adoption of the report by French Green member Didier Rod (see EUROPE of 17 October, p.16). The Parliament had hoped that this recommendation would be reinforced in order to take into account all the sources of resistance acquired or plasmid resistance, whether these are linked to the human consumption of meedicines or to their use for fattening animals, veterinary medicine or in certain genetically modified plants. It also calls for this recommendation to be no more than a stage on the way to a Community legislative framework for the fight against microbial resistances. In presenting the dossier, a representative of the Belgian Presidency stressed that the Council is not bound by a Parliament opinion which is not expressly provided for in the Treaty. He felt that aspects other than those aimed at the use of medicinal products in human medicine (he cited the use of antibiotics in livestock raising) were, moreover, already covered. The Council should therefore adopt the text proposed by the Commission which is essentially confined to improving the exchange of information between the Member States, mainly in the context of the European network for surveillance of resistance to bacteria. While it is a problem that goes beyond borders and the current growth in the consumption of antibiotics in the United States in the context of bioterrorism is not without causing the WHO concern, the text proposed by the Commission has been modified to prevent the slightest vexation to national feelings. Thus, the networking of the different public health players with a view to compiling a maximum of specific information on the consumption of anti-infectious agents is the subject of a clearly vaguer wording that leaves it up to the States to get organised at internal level without necessarily involving everyone concerned. As far as public information is concerned, the text no longer mentions the use of directions for use accompanying medicines and information campaigns proposed by the Commission have been replaced by "information measures". As the Commission proposed, the text stresses that antimicrobial resistance cannot be confined to one geographic region or one Member State. It recognises the need for coordination at Community level whereas the Commission envisaged "concerted action".
Depression: The Council must adopt conclusions on the fight against stress-related problems and depression. The conclusions will take into account the results of the conference "Coping with stress and depression related problems in Europe" which was held in Brussels from 25 to 27 October and invite the Commission and the WHO to develop joint actions.
Food safety: the Presidency will brief the Council on the current state of work concerning the future European Food Authority that should be set up early-2002.
Electromagnetic fields: the Commission will present the Council with a opinion by the Steering Scientific Committee on the potential impact of electromagnetic fields (emitted by electric pylons, mobile phones and other equipment) on human health.
Bio-terrorism: ministers will have an exchange of views on the subject over lunch. The Belgian Presidency should turn to the co-ordination strategy called for by the European council of Ghent, notably regarding stocks of vaccines. Commissioner David Byrne should also raise the results of the G7+ meeting (United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Mexico) in Ottawa last week. This meeting allowed for the adoption of a joint declaration on strengthening international co-operation covering: - the supply of anti-biotic vaccines; - research and development into rapid diagnosis tests and vaccines, especially against smallpox; - the backing of the WHO monitoring network and development of a co-ordinated strategy to control the appearance of an illness; - information exchange, early warning and emergency plans.
The Council should also turn to the state of progress in the work on the revision of the 1993 directive on medical provisions and impact on their social security systems and health services, the Court of Justice ruling in the "Gerraets-Smits" and "Peerbooms" cases relating to health care in another Member State.