EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Andrzej RysDirector of Public Health and Risk Assessment

EU Health Prize for JournalistsMedia seminar

Brussels, 29 October 2009

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Europe for patientsAims:

tangible and readily understandable communication framework for policies and actions related to EU healthcare. single entry point to the complex world of EU healthcare policiescoherent message about the vision and priorities in EU healthcare for partners and stakeholders

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Launched byCommissioner Vassiliou30/9/2008

Umbrella campaignannouncing11 healthpolicy initiatives

All have acommon aim:better healthcare for all in Europe

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EfP initiatives1) Directive on the application of patients' rights in the

cross-border healthcare (adopted by the Commission 2/7/2008)

Rules for receiving cross-border healthcare and reimbursement of these costs are not always clear or easy to understand

Aim of the Directive is to:provide more clarity about possibilities to seek healthcare in another Member Statemake clear who is responsible for quality and safety of care in cross-border settingsstrengthen cooperation in different areas, for example networks of centres of reference for specialised care

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EfP initiatives2) Rare diseases: Commission Communication and Council

Recommendation (Adopted 11/11/08). Aim is to:

Support setting up national plans and strategies for responding to rare diseases

Improve recognition and visibility of rare diseases

Encourage more research into rare diseases

Create European reference networks to share knowledge and expertise and to identify where patients should go when such expertise cannot be made available to them

European cooperation will help to bring together the scarce resources for rare diseases

European action will help patients and professionals to collaborate across Member States in order to share and coordinate expertise and information

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EfP initiatives3) Organs: Directive on setting standards of quality and safety of human

organs intended for transplantation; an Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation (Adopted 8/12/08)

4) Health Workforce: Green paper (Adopted 10/12/08)

5) Patient safety: Commission Communication and Council Recommendation on patient safety and quality of health services including the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections (adopted 15/12/08)

6) Cancer:Report on implementation of the Cancer Screening Recommendation of 2003 (adopted 22/12/08 – press launch 22/01/09)European Partnership for Action Against Cancer: Communication adopted 24/6/2009; launch event 29/9/2009)

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EfP initiatives7) Seasonal flu vaccination: Commission proposal for a

Council Recommendation on seasonal flu vaccination (Adopted 8/7/2009)

8) Alzheimer’s: Commission Communication and Council Recommendation on Alzheimer's disease and dementia(Adopted 22/7/2009)

9) Prudent use of antibiotics:2nd report from the Commission on theimplementation of the Council recommendationEuropean Antibiotic Awareness Day(18/11/2009; ECDC and Commission)

10) Childhood immunisation: Council recommendation on the cross-border aspects

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EfP initiatives11) Mental health

On 13 June 2008, high level conference in Brussels launched the "European Pact for Mental Health and Well-being“

The Pact has 5 priority areas. Conferences will follow up work on these areas:1) Mental Health in Youth and Education (29-30/9/2009, Stockholm)2) Prevention of Depression and Suicide (10-11/12/2009, Budapest)3) Mental Health in Older People (21-22/4/2010, Madrid)4) Mental Health in Workplace Settings (8-9/11/2010, Berlin)5) Combating Stigma and Social Exclusion (2010, Lisbon)

The Pact will lead to the following deliverables: Overviews of activitiesAn inventory of good practices – the EU-Compass for Action on Mental Health and Well beingRecommendations for action on the Pact's priority themes Action commitments

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More targeted information Dedicated EfP website hosted on EU health portal: health.europa.eu/efp

In 22 languagesEU documents, press releases, articles, speeches, events posted by the Commission Stakeholders and journalists can post events, news, articles

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1st EU Health Prize for Journalists

Aim to encourage good health journalism; raise awareness of Europe for Patients’ issues468 articles by 304 journalists from all 27 EU countriesAverage number of articles/country was 17, variations between 5 (Malta) and 44 (Italy)Most participants (ca. 70 %) womenMost popular topics patient safety, cancer, mental health and organ donation and transplantation

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Future cooperation

As a follow-up of the Prize, building a network of journalists in the EU countries

Would you be happy to receive regular information on EU health issues?Would you be able to feed us news, events etc. to be published on the Health Portal?Any suggestions?

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Other health policy activitiesPartnerships with stakeholders

Partnerships are cornerstones in EU’s strategy to tackle health problems related to obesity and alcoholThe EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health started in March 2005

European Alcohol and Health Forum was set up in 2007

The aim is to create fora for actors at European level who can commit to concrete actions to contain or reverse current trends

Member organisations range from industry to research institutes, health professionals, retailers, media, NGOs…

Performance of commitments is monitored and evaluated in a transparent, participative and accountable way – databases are available in the Internet

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Other health policy activities Salt campaign: a European framework

Common vision for a general European approach towards salt reduction

Overall goal: contribute towards reduced salt intake at population level to achieve the national or WHO recommendations

Voluntary participation of Member States

Supporting and reinforcing national plans comparable progress across EUmaintain flexibility for Member States coordinated messages for EU food industrygenerate momentum & measurable action

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Other health policy activitiesCoordinating EU response to H1N1

The Commission (DG Health and Consumers) coordinates the EU’s response to the pandemic H1N1

Commission is in permanent contact with the EU governments, ECDC, WHO…

Commission’s Health Emergency Operations Facility (HEOF) in Luxembourg follows the evolution of the pandemic

This mechanism includes a 24h/7 on-duty function, with daily reports on the epidemiological situation, on management issues and information to the public

Latest information on the Commission website at http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_threats/com/Influenza/h1n1_en.htm

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Otherhealth policy activities

HealthyLife Years(HLY)indicator

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Otherhealth policyactivities

HealthyLife Years(HLY)indicator

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Questions &

Feedback

health.europa.eu/efp