Brussels, 02/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - As part of the information society aspect of the new social agenda, the European Commission adopted a recommendation on Wednesday 2 July concerning the cross-border interoperability of electronic health record systems and the Smart Open Services (SOS) project (both “eHealth” initiatives). The aim of the recommendation is to enable doctors in the member states to have access to vital information on their patients, whichever member state the information is stored in. The SOS project, which is co-financed by the Commission and supported by 12 countries (Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the UK) and industry players, aims to ensure the compatibility of medical data irrespective of linguistic or technological differences, without the obligation to create a common system at European level. It seeks to enable health professionals to gain electronic access to patient information from another country in their own language and using different technologies and systems. Pharmacies could deal electronically with prescriptions made out in other member states, thereby enabling European travellers to obtain the medication they need. The information included in these electronic files has yet to be decided, but they will contain a succinct summary of vital information such as blood group, known allergies, medical conditions and any medication the patient may be taking. The records will only be created at the patient's request and with full respect for their right to privacy, the Commission stresses. The recommendation is the first Community text dealing comprehensively with the steps that should be taken by member states to establish such a system, while the SOS project will validate and update the recommendation based on further experience. (I.L.)