Early preparation is the best way to address future threats and health risks, Minister of Health Dr. Popi Kanari has said in her intervention at the Informal Meeting of the EU Council of Ministers of Health that was organised by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, in Stockholm.
According to a press release by the Ministry of Health, the first topic of discussion on the agenda was the preparedness of the member states to deal with crises and safe access to medicines.
The Minister of Health welcomed the recent publication of the proposal for the revision of the European Pharmaceutical legislation. In her intervention, she also thanked the Presidency for the opportunity to discuss the issue which, as she noted, based on the experience gained by the member states from the COVID-19 pandemic, constitutes an essential public health issue.
It has become clear, she said, that early and proper preparation is the best way to deal with future health threats and risks. Such a possibility of preparation in the short term as well as in the long term, is provided to the member states by the European Health Union, on the basis of which the member states cooperate to identify, prepare and collectively deal with health crises.
Regarding the safe access of all European citizens to medicines, Kanari stated that the dialogue between all those involved (industry, patients, etc.) becomes necessary in order to potentially ensure the future development of new innovative medicines while ensuring the sustainability of the Member States’ health systems. She pointed out the need to provide incentives for placing pharmaceutical products in small markets. Cyprus, she said, has shown a particular interest for cooperation with other EU member states for admission agreements or joint procurement agreements in order to ensure expensive innovative medicines at affordable prices.
On the sidelines of the Council, the Minister of Health had the opportunity to exchange views with her counterparts from the other EU member states on various issues related to the health sector such as equal access of patients to innovative medicines, the joint supply of medicines and other pharmaceutical products and the sustainability of health systems. During her stay in Stockholm, Kanari visited the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and was informed about its operations.
She also participated in a meeting with the Director of the Center Dr. Andrea Ammon and members of her staff and discussed issues related to the effective epidemiological surveillance and control of infectious diseases in Cyprus.
According to the press release, they exchanged views on ways to strengthen the cooperation of Cyprus with the Center mainly for evaluating and upgrading the epidemiological surveillance programs, the digitization of the data collection system for infectious diseases.
They talked about the surveillance and control of microbial resistance, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS as well as the management of the mosquitoes of the type “Aedes aegypti” found in Cyprus. Dr. Ammon assured the Minister of Health that ECDC will continue to support Cyprus’ efforts to protect and enhance public health.
Source: Cyprus News Agency