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Message from Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety 

EU citizens clearly care about the innovation and digitisation of health care. We all see the potential of digital solutions in the prevention and management of chronic diseases and in keeping a healthy lifestyle. That is why the Commission is committed to overcoming the current barriers to the free movement of patients and data. If we want to safeguard the wellbeing of our citizens and support the modernisation of national health systems, we need to pool evidence and trigger research and investment in digital health, and help people manage their own health.

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Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, will open the 6^th Conference of Partners (COP) of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Health Ageing (EIP-AHA) tomorrow. The main aim of the COP is to align the EIP-AHA with the actions of the Digital Single Market and the future Commission Communication on Digital Transformation of Health and Care.

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Registration is now open for the second hearing on effective ways of investing in health, organised by the European Commission's Expert Panel on Health. The event will take place in Brussels on the afternoon of 11 October 2017.

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The latest edition of the Country Health Profiles and Companion Report will be launched on 13 December at 10.30 at a virtual event organised by the European Commission.

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Today the Commission has adopted the second EU4Health work programme. In 2022, the EU4Health will continue to invest in building stronger, more resilient health systems and pave the way for the European Health Union. With a budget of over €835 million, the new work programme will provide an unparalleled level of EU investment in health and ensure ambitious and decisive action in four focus areas: crisis preparedness, disease prevention, health systems and healthcare workforce, and digitalisation.

The EU4Health Programme supports building a European Health Union including the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, and the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, and the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (‘HERA’).

The programme will provide funding to eligible entities from Member States, associated third countries, international organisations, NGOs and the private sector in the form of grants or procurement of specific services. NGOs will be able to apply through an open call for operating grants, as well as for action grants on various topics. The European Commission and the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) will manage the programme.

More information:

• 2022 annual work programme

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The 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) will take place from 23 to 27 July 2018 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The European Commission will organise a series of events to promote the EU Health Programme results. The Commission will showcase the results of past and ongoing activities in the field.

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Registration is now open for the third hearing on effective ways of investing in health, organised by the European Commission's Expert Panel on Health. The event will take place in the Residence Palace, Brussels on 25 October 2017.

Interested stakeholders are invited to register here by 13 October 2017.

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The third EU Compass Forum on mental health and well-being takes place tomorrow and Friday in Luxembourg.  The conference will bring together Member States' representatives, NGO's, experts in mental health, and representatives from WHO and the Commission to share their experiences and knowledge in addressing mental health issues. This year, the particular focus of the forum is on providing community-based mental health services and mental health in all policies.

The forum includes keynote presentations by leading experts, in-depth discussions and breakout sessions. See programme.

Follow this important discussion live!

Background:

The EU Compass is a mechanism supported by the European Commission to collect, exchange, and analyse information on policy and activities by Member States and partners in mental health. It is funded under the EU Health Programme (2014-2020).

For more information:

• EU-Compass for Action on Mental Health and Well-being
• EU action on mental health

* The link for following the meeting live will shortly be available on the event page.

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Today in Brussels, the Steering Group on Promotion and Prevention[1] meets for the third time to discuss best practices to support national policies on non-communicable diseases. Several EU countries will present their experiences and their priority areas. Participants will also give their views on a proposed mechanism to assess best practices. See other key topics in the agenda below.

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The fourth Conference on European Reference Networks (ERNs) takes place today and tomorrow in Brussels.

The two-day event brings together more than 400 participants, such as the representatives of EU and national institutions, healthcare providers and medical professionals, and patients' representatives to discuss the results so far and the challenges ahead.

The Conference opens the deployment stage in the networks' lifecycle. After an intensive period of preparation and awareness-raising, the first 24 ERNs are now operational. Despite having already recorded success stories since their launch in March 2017, the networks and their work need further review and consolidation. The conference will present the main clinical and organisational outcomes of the networks, and identify the challenges and margins for future improvements.

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Today in Brussels, the Steering Group on Promotion and Prevention//info%40cybermed%2Eit@mail.mabnet.it:143/fetch%3EUID%3E.INBOX%3E10788#1">[1] is holding its fourth meeting to discuss best practices to support national policies on non-communicable diseases. Several EU countries will present their experiences and their priority areas. Participants will be asked to select the 2018 round of best practices in the area of nutrition and physical activity, as well as to discuss proton therapy centres in the EU. Commissioner Andriukaitis will also address the members of the Steering Group.See other key topics below.

Agenda:

10:00-10:15                 Welcomeby Martin Seychell, Deputy-Director General of DG SANTE

10:15-11:00                 Future EU presidencies' actions linked to the SGPP

11:00-11:45                 Implementation of best practices selected in 2017

11:45-12:30                 2018 round of selecting best practices:  nutrition and physical activity

12:30-13:30                 Multi-sectoral collaboration: European Investment Bank's (EIB) initiative on proton therapy 

14:30-15:30                 Future work of the SGPP: Development and implementation of agreed policies and research results

15:30-16:00                 Formalisation of the SGPP and the future rules of procedure

16:00-17:00                 Addressby Commissioner Andriukaitis, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety

Previous Steering Group meetings:

30/11/2016: First meeting of the SG on Promotion and Prevention – Flash report

17/03/2017: Second meeting of the SG on Promotion and Prevention – Flash report

26/10/2017: Third meeting of the SG on Promotion and Prevention - Flash report

More information:

• EU chronic diseases policy
• CHRODIS PLUS

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On 1 January 2022, 620 new members will join the European Reference Networks, as unanimously approved by the ERN Board of Member States. As a result of the current call there will be nearly 1,500 ERN units in 27 Member States and Norway. This milestone enlargement extends the geographical scope of the ERNs, and the possibility of patients with rare and low prevalence as well as complex diseases and conditions to access highly specialised healthcare.

The new 620 healthcare units will join the Networks in 24 EU Member States and Norway (except Bulgaria, Malta and Luxembourg). The highest number of new applicants - 43 - have been accepted to ERN RITA - the European Reference Network that aims to improve the care of patients with Rare Immunological Disorders. 38 new applicants will join EURACAN – the ERN that connects patients who have rare adult solid cancers, and 36 applicants will join ERN EuroBloodNet - the ERN in Rare Hematological Diseases (RHD). The highest number of healthcare units is going to join the ERNs in Italy (145), Germany (84) and Spain (68), and the lowest in Latvia and Slovenia (4), Estonia (3) and Cyprus (2). Greece joins as a new country to have healthcare units in the ERNs - with 18 units.

The ERNs system is an innovative model of virtual healthcare and collaboration. It successfully brings together the most specialised centres (now nearly 1,500 healthcare units) across the EU to speed up diagnosis, improve standards of care and generate knowledge and new evidence for patients living with rare or low prevalence and complex diseases, working according to the principle that it should be knowledge that travels, not the patient.

In 2017, when the ERNs were established, nearly 900 healthcare units joined 24 European Reference Networks.

More information: Overview | Public Health (europa.eu)

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Today the Commission services and the European Medical Agency (EMA) have launched a joint action plan to foster the development of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), with the aim of streamlining the procedures and better addressing the specific requirements of ATMPs developers.

The Commission services and EMA, in collaboration with the Member States, are working on initiatives to support the development and authorisation of high quality, safe and effective ATMPs.

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Today, the SCHEER[1], the Commission's independent scientific committee, published their final Opinion on tolerable intake of aluminium with regards to adapting the migration limits for aluminium in toys, as laid down in the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC.

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Today, the European Commission published its 4th progress report on the implementation of the European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance, which was adopted in June 2017. Substantial progress has been made since the last progress report published mid-2019). This includes meetings of the AMR One Health Network and of the Health Security Committee to enhance cooperation and coordination on AMR and One Health visits to Member States to support the implementation of national One Health action plans. Other milestones include the publication of two overview reports respectively on measures to tackle AMR through the prudent use of antimicrobials in animals and on a series of audits carried out in 2017 and 2018 in order to evaluate the monitoring and reporting of AMR in zoonotic and commensal bacteria in certain food-producing animal populations and food. The next progress report is planned to be published by the end of 2020.

Full report available here

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Today, the European Commission published its 6th progress report on the implementation of the European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), adopted in June 2017.

The progress report shows that a number of initiatives taken at EU level have progressed over the last six months. The Joint Action on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections (JAMRAI), which supported collaborative activities and policy development in Member States was finalised last February. The EU AMR One-Health Network, chaired by the European Commission, reconvened on-line on 25 March following a year-long pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was an important opportunity for EU Member States, the European Commission and partners (Tripartite Plus - WHO, FAO, OIE, UNEP) to discuss the latest developments on AMR from a One Health perspective at EU and international levels. At regulatory level, the Commission established tertiary legislation to implement the EU Regulations on Veterinary Medicinal Products and on Medicated Feed, which will support reaching the target, set in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, to reduce overall EU sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals and in aquaculture by 50% by 2030.

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Yesterday, Member States unanimously supported a Commission proposal consolidating the protective measures in relation to outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of subtype H5N8 in the  four affected Member States (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania). The virus, likely introduced by wild migratory birds which can carry it during their seasonal movements, and shows no indication of harm to human health at present, was first reported in Poland on 31 December 2019. It has caused a total of 16 outbreaks of HPAI in poultry farms, affecting a variety of poultry species (ducks, geese, turkeys, hens). The measures aim at protecting the rest of the EU and third countries ensuring continuation of safe trade without jeopardising the sanitary status of the EU. Such Decisions are usually recognised by third countries, which import from non-affected parts of the respective Member State and the rest of the EU. So far all affected countries have taken all necessary measures.

For more information (including a map of the areas concerned):

• Avian influenza

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On Monday 28 October, the Commission will hold a conference with stakeholders to present and discuss the findings of its evaluation of the blood, tissues and cells legislation which was published on October 11. The conference will be opened by Anne Bucher, Director General of DG SANTE. Key challenges will be addressed by panels of EU experts from professional, patient and industry societies. A final panel, including the Directors of ECDC and EDQM (Council of Europe) will reflect on the way forward. Blood, tissues and cells allow for essential therapies for millions of citizens every year. The EU legislation helps ensure quality and safety for blood and tissues and cells, and has now been in place for more than a decade. In view of the very dynamic landscape – use of new biotechnologies, more disease outbreaks, and a more connected world - the Commission has evaluated whether this legislation has achieved its original objectives and is still fit for purpose. The evaluation carried out indicates that the legislation brought significant improvements to quality and safety in this field. However, a number of key challenges were identified. In particular, it proves difficult for legal requirements to adapt and reflect all these continuous changes. Shortcomings were identified in relation to the protection of donors, making blood, tissues and cells available, and in relation to the protection of children born from medically assisted reproduction.  Provisions to keep pace with innovation, to ensure robust oversight and to ensure sustainability of supply were also seen as gaps. The conference will be available via web-streaming. 

More information:

• EU action on Blood, tissues, cells and organs

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On 1 April 2019, the European Commission launches the 2019 EU Health Award for cities, NGOs and schools. This year, we aim to reward initiatives seeking to prevent and reduce obesity in children and young people (6-18 years).

In 2015, around 1 in 3 children in the EU aged 6-9 years old was overweight. Especially alarming is the fact that physical activity tends to drop between the ages 11 to 15 in most European countries. The role of cities, NGOs and schools is crucial in the effort to prevent and reduce obesity in children and young people.

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The Study "Cross-border cooperation: capitalising on existing initiatives for cooperation in cross-border regions" published by the Commission today//info%40cybermed%2Eit@mail.mabnet.it:143/fetch%3EUID%3E.INBOX%3E10602#1">[1] maps EU-funded cooperation projects for the period 2007 to 2017 in EU and EEA countries and Switzerland; provides insight into opportunities and challenges for cross-border cooperation in healthcare; and offers guidance to local and regional authorities and other parties who are interested in starting a health-related cooperation project. The Study's findings will provide input into the report on the operation of the Cross-border Healthcare (CBHC) Directive due to be published later in the year.