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| Mon 28 October 2024 | View online Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes |
| | | | | Want to order your medicine online? ePharma want to ensure everyone can |
| In a bid to make their voices heard, fifteen sectoral organisations, including the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacy (ASOP EU), the European Association of e-Pharmacies (EAEP), and the European Health Management Association (EHMA), will launch their ‘Coalition for Online Ordering and Home Delivery of Medications’ (OnHOME) on Tuesday,29 October.
"Access to healthcare should not depend on a patient’s place of residence or physical ability to visit a pharmacy. The OnHOME Alliance is committed to advocating for a future where all European citizens have safe, reliable, and convenient online access to the medications they need, regardless of their location," said Head of the EAEP Brussels office, Martino Canonico.
By joining forces, they aim to push the 19 EU countries that still refuse to authorise online access to medications to change their policies. Currently, only Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and four other EU countries allow ePrescriptions and home delivery of medications. The e-Pharma group is targeting the ongoing revision of the EU’s pharmaceutical legislation. Specifically, the organisation wants member states to provide evidence - for example, a risk assessment - if they want to limit online sales of medicines based on ‘public health grounds’.
According to the OnHOME members, this would eliminate prohibitions that “are not evidence-based and do not meet the principles of necessity and proportionality.” OnHOME argue that this would benefit European patients and citizens. Read more here. Back to the top |
| | 🟡 Artificial intelligence |
| | EFPIA publishes position on the use of artificial intelligence in the medicinal product lifecycle |
| This year’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to three scientists who developed an AI model to predict the structure of proteins. One of the Laureats, Demis Hassabis, has established a company, Isomorphic Labs, which is already working with Novartis and Eli Lilly on drug discovery projects. It’s just one example of how AI is likely to have a revolutionary impact on the pharmaceutical sector.
EFPIA, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, has published a position paper that lays out its recommendations on how AI should be fit for purpose.
EFPIA see the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as the most appropriate body to provide oversight of the application of AI, but seeks greater clarity on its approach to risk assessment. The association also want to ensure that this field is exempt from the provisions of the AI Act and that the regulatory framework helps rather than hinders development.
AI is seen as having a transformative impact at every state of a medicines development from discovery to improved pharmacovigilance. Read the position here. Back to the top |
| | | | NGOs could see funds from the EU4Health programme slashed |
| The European Commission plans to cut grants from EU4Health to NGOS by at least 50 percent next year, according to an email seen by Euractiv.
Launched by the Commission in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, EU4Health programme aims to strengthen the EU’s resilience and support for a health union. It does this, in part, by providing grants to health organisations, civil society organisations (CSOs) and NGOs from EU countries and non-EU countries associated with the programme. “NGOs like ours are free from commercial interests and represent only the evidence of what is best for public health. This means that we can act as a counterbalance to those pushing policymakers from a vested interest,” said the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), commenting on the importance of EU4Health funding for their organisation.
Earlier this week, the European Parliament said it wanted to increase the budget for EU4Health in 2025. It is currently unclear whether an increase in the overall EU4Health 2025 budget would reverse the decision to cut grants to NGOs. Read more here. Back to the top |
| | | | New EU pharma coalition calls for non-profit models for drug development |
| Public Pharma for Europe (PPfE), a new EU pharma coalition of various social movements and civil society organisations including Health Action International (HAI), was launched last week. The goal is to expand public pharmaceutical infrastructure, policies, and governance in Europe.
“Increased public leadership and responsibility, including the establishment, continuation, and expansion of public pharma can serve as an antidote to Big Pharma’s abuses and better safeguard people’s health,” the coalition said in their opening statement.
According to PPfE, European governments need to change the way they think about R&D, innovation, clinical trials, as well as the production and distribution of health technologies.
The coalition say that the COVID crisis exacerbated shortages and other issues tied to private drug development but that “there are long standing systemic and structural problems that have harmed public health for decades.” Back to the top |
| | | | Monday and New Years Day most at-risk days for suicide |
| People are most likely to commit suicide on Monday and New Years Day in most countries, according to a multi-country study released in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published last Wednesday (23 October).
The authors studied 1.7 million suicides across four decades in 26 countries and found some regional differences. Many North American, Asian, and European countries saw fewer suicides on weekends, for example. However, weekend suicide risk increased in South and Central American countries, Finland, and South Africa.
While Christmas has often been cited as a day with high suicide risk, the authors could not find any global concluding evidence that this was the case, except for Central and South American countries, and South Africa.
Why it matters: More than 720,000 people die due to suicide every year, according to the World Health Organisation. While it has long been known that suicide risk peaks in the spring and early summer in multiple countries, no global studies prior to this one have looked at the short-term temporal differences in suicide risk. These findings could help inform suicide prevention measures and awareness campaigns. Back to the top |
| | | | | Slovak healthcare crisis, 2,400 doctors threaten to resign on 1 November |
| Slovakia - Slovak healthcare crisis, 2,400 doctors threaten to resign on 1 November Despite the new Health Minister Šaško's €100 million concession health unions refuse to move, taking a tougher stance in negotiations.
The new Health Minister, Kamil Šaško (Hlas, currently suspended from the S&D group), is facing a baptism of fire. Šaško assumed office amidst heated consolidation measures, which hit healthcare workers' pay increase.
"We have 2,462 resignation letters from employment contracts in a total of 32 hospitals, and the number of resignations continues to rise," said Dr Peter Visolajský, head of the Medical Trade Union Association (LOZ), on Tuesday.
The resignations are to be filed on 1 November. Given the two-month notice period, the doctors would leave hospitals on 1 January. Read more here. Back to the top |
| | Swedish hospital performed 33 unnecessary hysterectomies |
| Sweden - As many as 33 women in Sweden had their uteruses unnecessarily removed after Uppsala University Hospital wrongly diagnosed them as being at risk of uterine cancer in 2023 and early 2024. An investigation into other cases has now been launched.
The Uppsala University Hospital this week revealed that it had officially informed 33 of its female patients, aged between 38 and 85, that they were misdiagnosed. The women were found to have cell changes that put them at risk of developing cancer, known as endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia (EIN). However, in these cases, the cell analysis proved incorrect, with pathologists systematically overdiagnosing EIN, the hospital said.
“We deeply regret what has happened. Removing the uterus is a major operation with major and irreversible consequences. It shouldn't happen, and yet it did, and we apologise to the women affected by this. They have our full support,” Johan Lugnegård, Chief Medical Officer at the Uppsala University Hospital,” stated.
Lugnegård issued a statement on Wednesday evening in which he clarified that 25 out of the 33 women not only had their wombs but also their ovaries removed.
Speaking with Euractiv, Belinda Haraldsdotter, president of the Swedish Gynaecological Cancer Association, expressed her shock at the news.
“This is a disaster for the women who have undergone major operations which have long-term consequences,” she said.
The alarm was first raised by medical staff at the Uppsala University Hospital’s women’s clinic in March 2024, who noticed that the number of hysterectomies had doubled in 2023. This prompted the hospital to launch an investigation. Read the full story here. Back to the top |
| | | | | | | | MEPs have an external week, no committee or group meetings |
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| | Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides bilateral meeting with the Regional Director for WHO/Europe, Hans Kluge 74th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, Copenhagen |
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| | Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices |
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| | | | Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit attends high-level conference on occupational safety and health Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Italy |
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| | Health Policy Platform Webinar on “Stepping up efforts for better mental health of long-term care workers and informal carers” |
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| | Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices |
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| | Launch of OnHomeAlliance , Online Order and Home Delivery of Medicines Alliance
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | Today’s brief was brought to you by Euractiv’s Health team |
| | | | | Today’s briefing was prepared by the Health team: Catherine Feore, Clara Bauer-Babef, Emma Pirnay, Thomas Mangin, and Lydia Williams. Additional reporting by Filip Áč and Monica Kleja. Share your feedback or information with us at [email protected]. |
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