EPHA welcomes the European Commission’s proposal and calls for a balanced debate so that the legislation adopted serves the needs of all people living across the EU and not just the provision of incentives to the pharmaceutical sector.
This lunchtime, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) was pleased to attend the European Commission’s announcement of its proposal reviewing EU pharmaceutical legislation.
EPHA and its members and partners welcome this long-awaited revision and now call on the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers to ensure it addresses four key priorities:
- Prevent, monitor and mitigate the impacts of medicine shortages
- Ensures equal access to affordable treatments across the EU
- Provides transparency in the costs to taxpayers and health systems
- Addresses the antimicrobial resistance crisis affordably
As sky-rocketing prices and increasing medicine shortages are threatening access to affordable medicines for people across EU member states, this revision is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address these important issues. Shortages of medicine undermine patients’ right to timely and equitable access to quality healthcare and high prices of medicines threaten patients’ access and the sustainability of healthcare systems.