The European Parliament has set up a new Special Committee on Cancer, one of several new committees being launched by the institution. To mark the occasion, the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA), a pro-vaping advocacy group based in Brussels, has launched a campaign calling on the EU institutions to endorse vaping in the EU Cancer Plan…
Healthcare
eHealth Security
The EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and The Danish Health Data Authority will this week launch the 6th annual eHealth Security Conference: “Working together towards secure eHeath”. This year’s programme consists of a series of panel discussions about the major cyber challenges facing Europe’s healthcare sector. The series will span three months, with each month exploring…
EESC Civil Solidarity Prize
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) invites civil society organisations, private companies and individuals from the European Union and the United Kingdom to submit their projects for its unique Civil Solidarity Prize, launched in July as a special, one-off replacement for its flagship annual Civil Society Prize. The EESC aims to reward as many as 29…
More Transparency Needed for Vaccine Trials
AstraZeneca issued a press release announcing that clinical trials for their coronavirus vaccine, AZD1222, under development resumed last week in the UK. The vaccine AZD1222 was co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-off company, Vaccitech. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus)…
Harmonised Methodology Needed to Deal with the Pandemic
Common definitions, health criteria and methodologies are key to effectively fighting the ongoing pandemic and its economic consequences in the EU, MEPs say. Worried by the recent increase in positive COVID-19 cases across Europe, MEPs deplore that member states have not learned the lessons from the beginning of the crisis and have yet again taken…
Brussels Airport Health Accreditation
Brussels Airport complies with the recommendations by ICAO and the protocol issued by EASA/ECDC to ensure that it has Airport Health Accreditation. The Airport makes every effort to ensure that their facilities are hygienic and safe to welcome passengers. The combination of the various health safety measures allows them to meet the highest standards, and to satisfy…
Commission Signs Vaccine Contract with Sanofi-GSK
On Friday, a second contract with a pharmaceutical company entered into force following the contact’s formal signature between Sanofi-GSK and the Commission. The contract will allow all EU Member States to purchase up to 300 million doses of the Sanofi-GSK vaccine. Moreover, Member States may donate reserved doses to lower- and middle-income countries. Sanofi and GSK…
EP Demands EU Medicine Security
The European Parliament has called for the EU to be more self-sufficient when it comes to medicines and medical equipment so that affordable treatments are available at any time. Parliament addresses the root causes of recent medicine shortages in a resolution, adopted by 663 votes to 23 and 10 abstentions. MEPs call for an increased…
Security of Supply for Medicines
The EPP Group says it wants to relieve Europe’s dependence on third countries such as India and China when producing medicines. It wants to make stockpiling of certain medicines in Europe compulsory through a sort of European Emergency Pharmacy. Nathalie Colin-Oesterlé MEP, who drafted a parliamentary report to be voted on today in Parliament, and…
Ukraine’s Game of Monopoly
The pandemic caused by the coronavirus crisis has forced countries to join forces to overcome the consequences. This is especially true for countries with small budgets which have already had financial problems. The EU has joined forces and extended a helping hand to non-member countries, including Ukraine. Financial assistance, though, is not only intended to…