Brussels, 21/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - Rapid progress in the field of health and medical science has not, unfortunately, been accompanied by similar progress on patient information. And yet patients are urgently asking for more active involvement in the treatment process and for information on the most appropriate medicines. The danger mainly lies in the diffusion of misleading commercial information that can hide advertising messages by pharmaceutical companies. Friends of Europe, Etienne Davignon's think-tank, organised, on 20 September, a debate on this question that concerns all citizens, headed by its general secretary, Giles Merritt. “High quality, reliable, validated, timely and accessible information for patients is a fundamental human right”, Nicola Bedlington, Director of the European Patients Forum, said. In her view, patient information is a tricky objective to achieve in so far as each patient is different (age, sex, culture, etc.) and needs tailor-made information. Partnership and dialogue with all parties interested, that all have their role to play, will be the key to making things move forward, she said. For the representative of the European Commission, James Copping (DG Enterprise and Industry), the local authorities are the most able to meet patients' needs, while responsibility at European level concerns the setting up of structures allowing patient access to information, after the model, for example, of the health information portal (launched on 10 May this year). Mr Copping agreed that there are failings in European legislation. Also, Member States interpret it differently which makes the situation still more confused. Furthermore, patients remain unequal when it comes to information (information is often in English, with access solely via the internet), and making this information accessible for all is a difficult and costly undertaking, he admits. MEP Françoise Grossetête (EPP-ED, France) deplored the lack of a clear line of demarcation between information and advertising despite amendments that she had suggested on revision of the European pharmaceuticals legislation in April 2002, amendments that had not been accepted by her colleagues (at the time she was EP rapporteur on revision of the directive on medicines for human use). In her view, information supplied by pharmaceutical laboratories should be verified in advance by the European Medicines Agency in London which would deliver a sort of European label attesting that the directions for use are reliable. The Parliament recognised in the past that this was an essential role of the Agency and will continue to give it its support so that its role is enhanced with the additional funds needed, she assured. Regarding the pharmaceutical industries that often have the reputation of being purely lucrative organisations, Ms Grossetête defended their essential role in medical research. She reproached the European Commission for remaining passive and slow and said she hoped that, in April 2007, it would present to the Parliament the study on patient information that had been requested of it. This study should take stock of the situation in the world and suggest tests for a series of illnesses such as AIDS and diabetes, she said. “We are in a hurry for this as the patients' associations await the information”, she warned. Ulla Nähri of the National Medicines Agency in Finland said that expenditure on health care should not be simply considered as a cost to be covered in the short term but rather as an investment with a view to long term economic prosperity. She also placed emphasis on the fact that patients are asking to be better and more fully informed, not only through their doctors. The great challenge will be to create a network of the necessary partners in order to ensure that quality, regularly updated information is provided addressing the specific needs of each kind of patient, Ms Nähri said. The debate opens up a Pandora's box, Gile Merritt said by way of conclusion, recalling that health is a question of solidarity and that patient information is therefore essential.