Luxembourg, 02/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Luxembourg on 2 June under the chairmanship of Michael Martin, the Health Ministers of the enlarged EU gave a serious boost to promoting the health of their fellow citizens. They held a long debate on patient mobility, and by request of Sweden, lent particular attention to damage to young people's health caused by alcohol consumption. They also committed to look into prevention of cardiovascular diseases, by a change in behaviour, amongst other things (as suggested by Commissioner David Byrne), and how citizens could use new information and communication technologies to gain access to better information to improve their health.
The Ministers also discussed the Commission's communication on patient mobility, notably the problem of including such care in the scope of the directive on services of general interest. In particular, Belgium, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, who claim to have "very clear" ideas on this subject, feel that healthcare should be kept out of the directive. On suggestion by Germany, Luxembourg and Sweden, the Council called upon its President, Michael Martin, to write to the President of the Competitiveness Council reflecting these concerns.
The Council adopted the following Presidency's conclusions:
1) Cardio healthcare: after a short debate, the Council called for a European initiative on exchanges of best practice in terms of prevention of this type of disease. This initiative will support and co-ordinate national policies in this field, and will be based on national public health programmes. The Council's conclusions take up the recommendations made at last February's conference in Cork on cardiovascular health, and at the one organised by the Italian Presidency of the EU on lifestyles;
2) On-line health (e-health): The Council calls upon the Member States to develop on-line health as part of national public health strategies. The conclusions point out that on-line health relates to the use of information and communication technologies, including the Internet. Commissioner David Byrne presented the Commission's action plan in this field to the Ministers;
3) Pandemics: Welcoming the Commission's communication on the fight against pandemics, the Council calls upon the "Health Security Committee" (set up in 2001 to co-ordinate European actions in case of bio-terrorist attacks) to take ownership of actions proposed by the Commission. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which takes up its duties in May 2005, will then take on the responsibilities of the Health Security Committee;
4) Young people and alcohol: the Council underlines the need to reduce young people's alcohol consumption, after the results of the informal Council of Cork, on 12 May. The Commission is preparing a proposal to set up a "global" European strategy for alcoholism and health, to be presented in 2005 after consultation of the partners in question. It will also present a report on the way in which Member States implement the recommendations of the Council of June 2001 on alcohol and young people;
5) Childhood asthma: the Council noted the growing impact of this disease (one of the prime causes of childhood mortality), and its effects on the quality of childhood and family life. The conclusions identify certain causes of respiratory difficulties (air quality, pollution, smoky environments, diet etc), and indicates that common terminology and definitions would help to understand the disease.
The Council heard from Commissioner Byrne on the "public health" aspects of the Commission's communication "Modernising social protection systems for the development of quality healthcare, accessible and sustainable and long-term healthcare: support for national strategies using the open method of co-ordination". Mr Byrne also updated Ministers on the progress of negotiations within the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the re-examination of international rules, the WHO system of international co-operation for the control of infectious diseases and other threats to health.
Lastly, the Presidency informed the Council of the state of play with work on proposed regulations, firstly on the harmonisation of the use of food claims and health attributes of foodstuffs within the EU, and secondly, the harmonisation of national rules on the voluntary addition of vitamins and minerals to foods.