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The Treaty of Lisbon has enhanced the importance of health policy, stipulating that ‘a high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Community policies and activities’. This objective is to be achieved through Community support to Member States and by fostering cooperation. Primary responsibility for health protection and, in particular, the healthcare systems continues to lie with the Member States. However, the EU has an important role to play ...

Medicines and medical devices are products subject to the rules of the single market, and therefore the EU holds competency for their authorisation through evaluation and supervision. In order to protect public health, before being placed on the market new pharmaceuticals for human use must be authorised under a centralised procedure by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and/or in a decentralised manner by national agencies. Medical devices require a detailed regulatory framework for market access ...

The 1992 UN Conference on the Environment and Development marked a major step forward for the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of nature thanks to the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In 2011 the EU committed itself to halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU by 2020. Other objectives set out in the Habitats Directive or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) remain to ...

Disease mongering is the promotion of pseudo-diseases by the pharmaceutical industry aiming at economic benefit. Medical equipment manufacturers, insurance companies, doctors or patient groups may also use it for monetary gain or influence. It has increased in parallel with society's 'medicalisation' and the growth of the pharmaceutical complex. Due to massive investments in marketing and lobbying, ample use of internet and media, and the emergence of new markets, it is becoming a matter of concern ...

For many years the health consequences of new legislation have been taken into account during the policy formulation process in areas such as agriculture, environment, food and others. The inclusion of Health in All Policies is now enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty (Art. 168). The aim of the workshop was to present an update on how the system is actually functioning within the different Commission services. Several DGs representatives, led by DG SANCO, made contributions. The case of The Netherlands ...

The Pharmaceutical Package in this document refers to the initiatives taken by the European Commission under the "Communication on the future of the single market in pharmaceuticals for human use", setting out the EC's vision for the sector. It comprises three pieces of legislation put forward to the European Parliament on different aspects of medicinal products. The proposals cover: information to patients on prescription medicines, pharmacovigilance, and patient safety and falsified medicines. ...