Internationales
Auszug
(Quelle: Eurocare)
Italian Presidency of the Council of the
European Union in the Health Sector
July - December 2003
Priorities and Strategies
FOREWORD
The Italian
Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the
health sector will focus on a number of issues (see Annex 1) that deal
with two important priority areas:
"Public Health" and "Pharmaceutical Products".
During the Italian Presidency, in order to develop
the planned programme efficiently, an informal
Conference of Health Ministers and two formal Councils
will be held together with six conferences and eight
periodical meetings and committees (see Annex 2),
described in an separate brochure.
Moreover, a report on "Facts and health policies in Italy in the
European context" (see Annex 3 for the table of contents) has been
produced in order to examine in detail the pros and cons of the present
situation.
Briefly, the objective of the Italian Presidency is to obtain approval
of the following:
the entire package of regulations of the pharmaceutical sector
entitled "Revision 2001";
the Directive on "traditional herbal medicinal products";
the Regulation concerning the setting up of a Center for Disease
Control and Prevention";
the Directive on security and quality of human cells in medicine;
the Recommendation on "oncological screening"; and
two Conclusions of the Council of Health
Ministers (respectively, on healthy lifestyles and
on pharmaceutical policies based on
subsidiarity).
Prof. Girolamo Sirchia
Minister of Health, Italy
T
ABLE OF CONTENTS1. PUBLIC HEALTH ASPECTS
1.1. Healthy lifestyles
1.2. Cancer prevention in Europe (Oncological screening)
1.3. European Center for disease control and prevention
1.4. Quality and safety of cells and tissues for medical purposes
1.5. Mobility of patients and access to care
1.6. Exchange of information on selected issues
2. PHARMACEUTICALS
2.1. New regulations
2.2. Subsidiarity-related aspects
3. ANNEXES
1. PUBLIC HEALTH ASPECTS
The Public health priorities of the Italian Presidency concern
the promotion of healthy lifestyles, the quality and safety of cells and
tissues for medical purposes, the prevention of emerging diseases
and the institution of a European Center for disease control and
prevention as well as the mobility of patients when needed and
access to care.
1.1. Healthy lifestyles
The Italian Presidency will mainly aim at making available for
the European citizens and consumers the necessary measures and
instruments in order to protect their health by avoiding or
reducing damage that derives from unhealthy lifestyles. Priority
issues include fighting smoking, alcohol abuse, excessive eating
and/or unbalanced diets and insufficient physical activity. The
available knowledge indicates that an increasing number of
Europeans citizens, both children and adults, compromise their
health because of one or more of these erroneous lifestyles, thereby
exposing themselves to higher risks of contracting diseases such as
cardiovascular diseases, cancer, various metabolic disorders and
osteoporosis. The Italian Presidency's objective is not only to achieve
a technical and scientific assessment and to update knowledge in
this field, but mainly to accomplish an international alliance
between Member States and the European Commission and, within
each country, among different stakeholders (e.g. institutions,
voluntary associations, sport clubs, academies, information
operators, companies operating in the fields of manufacturing,
trade and food supplies and advertising firms). In this way, the health
of European citizens will be protected by helping them to avoid
lifestyles that are damaging to their health.
To this end an
3 and 4 September 2003 to formulate proposals of conclusions and
recommendations for Community and Member States initiatives,
