EUROPEAN COMMISSION Andrzej Rys Director of Public Health and Risk Assessment EU Health Prize for Journalists Media seminar Brussels, 29 October 2009

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Europe for patients Aims: tangible and readily understandable communication framework for policies and actions related to EU healthcare. single entry point to the complex world of EU healthcare policies coherent message about the vision and priorities in EU healthcare for partners and stakeholders

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Launched by Commissioner Vassiliou 30/9/2008 Umbrella campaign announcing 11 health policy initiatives All have a common aim: better healthcare for all in Europe

EUROPEAN COMMISSION EfP initiatives 1) Directive on the application of patients' rights in the cross-border healthcare (adopted by the Commission 2/7/2008) Rules for receiving cross-border healthcare and reimbursement of these costs are not always clear or easy to understand Aim of the Directive is to: provide more clarity about possibilities to seek healthcare in another Member State make clear who is responsible for quality and safety of care in cross-border settings strengthen cooperation in different areas, for example networks of centres of reference for specialised care

EUROPEAN COMMISSION EfP initiatives 2) Rare diseases: Commission Communication and Council Recommendation (Adopted 11/11/08). Aim is to: Support setting up national plans and strategies for responding to rare diseases Improve recognition and visibility of rare diseases Encourage more research into rare diseases Create European reference networks to share knowledge and expertise and to identify where patients should go when such expertise cannot be made available to them European cooperation will help to bring together the scarce resources for rare diseases European action will help patients and professionals to collaborate across Member States in order to share and coordinate expertise and information

EUROPEAN COMMISSION EfP initiatives 3) Organs: Directive on setting standards of quality and safety of human organs intended for transplantation; an Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation (Adopted 8/12/08) 4) Health Workforce: Green paper (Adopted 10/12/08) 5) Patient safety: Commission Communication and Council Recommendation on patient safety and quality of health services including the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections (adopted 15/12/08) 6) Cancer: Report on implementation of the Cancer Screening Recommendation of 2003 (adopted 22/12/08 – press launch 22/01/09) European Partnership for Action Against Cancer: Communication adopted 24/6/2009; launch event 29/9/2009)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION EfP initiatives 7)Seasonal flu vaccination: Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation on seasonal flu vaccination (Adopted 8/7/2009) 8)Alzheimer’s: Commission Communication and Council Recommendation on Alzheimer's disease and dementia (Adopted 22/7/2009) 9) Prudent use of antibiotics: 2nd report from the Commission on the implementation of the Council recommendation European Antibiotic Awareness Day (18/11/2009; ECDC and Commission) 10) Childhood immunisation: Council recommendation on the cross-border aspects

EUROPEAN COMMISSION EfP initiatives 11) Mental health On 13 June 2008, high level conference in Brussels launched the "European Pact for Mental Health and Well-being“ The Pact has 5 priority areas. Conferences will follow up work on these areas: 1) Mental Health in Youth and Education (29-30/9/2009, Stockholm) 2) Prevention of Depression and Suicide (10-11/12/2009, Budapest) 3) Mental Health in Older People (21-22/4/2010, Madrid) 4) Mental Health in Workplace Settings (8-9/11/2010, Berlin) 5) Combating Stigma and Social Exclusion (2010, Lisbon) The Pact will lead to the following deliverables: Overviews of activities An inventory of good practices – the EU-Compass for Action on Mental Health and Well being Recommendations for action on the Pact's priority themes Action commitments

EUROPEAN COMMISSION More targeted information Dedicated EfP website hosted on EU health portal: health.europa.eu/efp In 22 languages EU documents, press releases, articles, speeches, events posted by the Commission Stakeholders and journalists can post events, news, articles

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 1 st EU Health Prize for Journalists Aim to encourage good health journalism; raise awareness of Europe for Patients’ issues 468 articles by 304 journalists from all 27 EU countries Average number of articles/country was 17, variations between 5 (Malta) and 44 (Italy) Most participants (ca. 70 %) women Most popular topics patient safety, cancer, mental health and organ donation and transplantation

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Future cooperation As a follow-up of the Prize, building a network of journalists in the EU countries Would you be happy to receive regular information on EU health issues? Would you be able to feed us news, events etc. to be published on the Health Portal? Any suggestions?

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Other health policy activities Partnerships with stakeholders Partnerships are cornerstones in EU’s strategy to tackle health problems related to obesity and alcohol The EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health started in March 2005 European Alcohol and Health Forum was set up in 2007 The aim is to create fora for actors at European level who can commit to concrete actions to contain or reverse current trends Member organisations range from industry to research institutes, health professionals, retailers, media, NGOs… Performance of commitments is monitored and evaluated in a transparent, participative and accountable way – databases are available in the Internet

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Other health policy activities Salt campaign: a European framework Common vision for a general European approach towards salt reduction Overall goal: contribute towards reduced salt intake at population level to achieve the national or WHO recommendations Voluntary participation of Member States Supporting and reinforcing national plans comparable progress across EU maintain flexibility for Member States coordinated messages for EU food industry generate momentum & measurable action

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Other health policy activities Coordinating EU response to H1N1 The Commission (DG Health and Consumers) coordinates the EU’s response to the pandemic H1N1 Commission is in permanent contact with the EU governments, ECDC, WHO… Commission’s Health Emergency Operations Facility (HEOF) in Luxembourg follows the evolution of the pandemic This mechanism includes a 24h/7 on-duty function, with daily reports on the epidemiological situation, on management issues and information to the public Latest information on the Commission website at n1_en.htm

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Other health policy activities Healthy Life Years (HLY) indicator

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Other health policy activities Healthy Life Years (HLY) indicator

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Questions & Feedback health.europa.eu/efp