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…
Healthcare
European Care Strategy
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…
Resilience in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic
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….
Psychological trauma of Ukraine’s war to be the focus of international forum
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…
Medical Evacuations from Ukraine
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…
Kyriakides Meets Liashko, as EU Agrees Funding for Ukraine Health
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…
Huge Public Response on Big Shake-Up of EU Tobacco Laws
An overwhelming majority of EU citizens who responded to a European Commission initiative say they support tobacco harm reduction products. The Commission’s “Call for Evidence” on the legislative framework for tobacco control received an unprecedented level of feedback, with consumers of alternatives to tobacco products – vaping, heated tobacco and oral nicotine pouches – making…
Top 3 Health Threats
The European Commission has presents a priority list of top-3 health threats that require coordination of measures at EU level in the context of medical countermeasures. The list which includes three threat categories of life-threatening or otherwise seriously harmful hazards to health which have the potential of spreading across Member States. They are: (1) pathogens with…
Want to improve patient outcomes? Start thinking smaller
People recovering from cancer and other types of surgery are being urged to consider a “simple, tried-and-true” remedy …. chewing gum. Leading physician Andrew J. Vorenberg says “space-age technology” can help but so too can something like gum. “That”, he says, “is because the chewing reflex stimulates the gut and gets the digestive tract moving again,…
China’s Illegal Organ Harvesting on an Industrial Scale
The head of a respected rights group has called for fresh action to tackle the plight faced by Falun Gong practitioners who he says are “in the eye of Communist cyclone.” Willy Fautre, founder and director of Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers was speaking at an online event in Brussels on Wednesday on the current…