The European Parliament’s special Covid-19 committee exchanged views with ministers from the Global South and leading representatives of international health and trade organisations last week. The S&Ds used the meeting to call on international partners to recommit to the global initiative, COVAX, intended to guarantee equitable access to Covid vaccines. As a next step, the scope…
On World Mental Health day this year (10 October), Mental Health Europe hosted an event at the European Parliament focusing on refugees, migration and mental health. World Mental Health day comes and goes every year, complete largely with perfunctory nods from politicians towards “delivering”, “stakeholders” and “comprehensive solutions”. The proceedings organised by the European Parliament…
Prevention is always better than cure, say MEPs as they welcomed the new European approach to cancer screening presented this week by the European Commission. The recommendation is an important step forward to implement Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. In 2020 alone, 2.7 million people were diagnosed with cancer and 1.3 million lost their lives. The…
The EU’s food watchdog says that current law fails to protect animals during transport – an issue that citizens have long protested against. The European Food Safety Authority issued five new reports outlining the scientific evidence about the suffering of animals when they are transported – for sale, fattening or slaughter. The scientific opinions cover…
The EU’s tailor-made centralised system for vaccine procurement succeeded in creating an initially diversified portfolio of vaccine candidates and in procuring sufficient doses of COVID-19 vaccines. However, the EU started procurement later than the UK and the US, and when severe supply shortfalls occurred in the first half of 2021, it became clear that most contracts…
The Socialists and Democrats have welcomed the announced European Care Strategy, which has been adopted by the European Commission. With its two recommendations, it is a first step towards strengthening long-term care and early childhood education and care, as envisaged under the European pillar of social rights. The S&D Group has called for an “ambitious…
The EU institutions demonstrated considerable resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, a report published today by the European Court of Auditors concludes. The European Parliament, the Council, the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the EU all responded rapidly and flexibly, and benefited from previous investments they had made in digitalisation….
Warsaw will see many experts and organisations come together in the Sejm of the Polish parliament on Monday 12 September 2022 to tackle the urgent topic of the psychological trauma suffered among the population of Ukraine. The conference has been initiated by Julia Gershun’s Peace Committee of Ukraine. Ms Gershun is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador…
The EU says it has successfully coordinated 1,000 medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients via its civil protection mechanism to provide them with specialised healthcare in hospitals across Europe. As the number of wounded people in Ukraine increases day by day, local hospitals are struggling to keep up with the demand. At the same time, Poland, Moldova…
As part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to provide support in the area of health, Commissioner Kyriakides visited Ukraine to meet Minister of Health Viktor Liashko and pay a visit to a medical centre for children as well as a patient rehabilitation centre. The EU and Ukraine on Friday signed an agreement which will open access for…
