Belgian social democrat MEP Estelle Ceulemans has raised concerns about the Commission’s demotion of health from its leading priorities. It underscores, she says, the need to promote women’s health and to further revise the EU Pharma Package.
Ceulemans, the S&D coordinator on the EMPL Committee and member of ENVI and SANT emphasised the urgency of addressing health inequalities and prioritising access to affordable, quality healthcare in the EU.
In a recent interview with Euractiv, she underscored the need to tackle social and economic health determinants, like medical deserts, cancer prevention, and mental health, within a comprehensive EU health strategy.
Highlighting the gender dimension of health inequalities, Ceulemans pointed to gaps in women’s health data, misdiagnosis in cardiovascular conditions, and limited access to reproductive health services in some Member States. “All this speaks in favour of an EU Women’s Health Strategy,” she told Euractiv.
Concerns over new Commissioner
Ceulemans expressed concerns about the European Commission’s priorities, fearing that health issues might receive less emphasis.
“The proposition to designate a person close to Victor Orban as Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare is also a concern for different political families and is for my political family.”
She said it is not a positive signal for the future of health policy in Europe, especially regarding access to sexual and reproductive health services for women within the EU.
Ceulemans emphasises lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic should not be forgotten. “Cuts made by the European Council to health and environmental programs for the 2025-2027 period were deplored, such as for the EU4Health or LIFE programs.”
Commercial determinants
On commercial determinants, Ceulemans cited a study linking poorly rated foods to higher cardiovascular disease and cancer risks. Despite the Farm to Fork strategy’s 2022 deadline for compulsory nutritional labelling, she noted, “there is still no progress.”
She called for a directive to protect children from aggressive marketing of unhealthy food, stressing its importance in preventing obesity.
Fair pricing of medicines
Ceulemans identified fair pricing of medicines as a priority. “I will fight for fair pricing of medicines. It means a price that rewards investment in research but remains affordable, enabling Europe’s healthcare systems to reimburse these costs.”
Ceulemans added that a strong European Health Union also requires a deeper European autonomy in the strategic health sector.
“The EU should reduce dependency on third countries and address shortages of critical medicines. A solidarity framework for joint purchase and stockpiling of critical medicines was recently established. This is a positive step, but the EU must now focus on reducing long supply chains and modify State Aid rules that apply to the sector,” she explained.
Pharma package
Ceulemans supported ongoing efforts to strengthen the EU’s pharmaceutical legislation, backing S&D rapporteurs Tiemo Wölken and Nicolás González Casares in their push for comprehensive reforms. She called for a harmonised approach to reporting medicine shortages, strengthening environmental risk assessments, and advancing research while combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
However, Ceulemans signalled that there is room to push the reform further, particularly in terms of ensuring fair medicine pricing and transparency.
She voiced her support for Wölken’s proposal to create a dedicated EU public health infrastructure focused on addressing unmet medical needs, regardless of the return on investment.
“I am deeply convinced that reducing the regulatory data protection period during which other companies cannot access product data is absolutely mandatory. I support the swiftest entry of generic, hybrid or biosimilar medicines into the European market,” she said.
Belgian pharma’s unique value
As the conversation shifted to Belgium’s pharmaceutical industry, Ceulemans took the opportunity to emphasise the sector’s importance to the country’s economy and its unique responsibilities.
“Belgium is a world leader in the pharmaceutical industry. It is a major industrial sector in my country and a key sector in terms of employment. The pharmaceutical industry employs around 30,000 workers in Belgium,” she noted.
Reflecting on the sector’s broader role, Ceulemans stressed that the industry should not be treated like any other commercial enterprise.
“The pharmaceutical industry is not a common commercial industry and should not be considered as such. It should not be a profit-only driven industry, especially when we think that it is highly subsidised by public funding. The industry has an enormous responsibility to our society,” she concluded.
[Edited by Vasiliki Angouridi, Brian Maguire]
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Publish date : 2024-10-31 13:31:00
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