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B6-0236/2006
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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

29.3.2006

to wind up the debate on statements by the Council and Commission
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Fiona Hall, Thierry Cornillet and Marios Matsakis
on behalf of the ALDE Group
on World Health Day

Postopek : 2006/2552(RSP)
Potek postopka na zasedanju
Potek postopka za dokument :  
B6-0236/2006
Predložena besedila :
B6-0236/2006
Sprejeta besedila :

B6‑0236/2006

European Parliament resolution on World Health Day

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to World Health Day on 7 April 2006, which will be devoted to healthcare workers,

–  having regard to the Health Workforce Decade (2006-2015), which will be launched on World Health Day,

–  having regard to the Commission’s Communication on an EU Strategy for Action on the Crisis in Human Resources for Health in Developing Countries, adopted on 12 December 2005,

–  having regard to the High-Level Forum on the Health MDGs held in Abuja in December 2004, and to its conclusions,

–  having regard to the Millennium Development Goals, to the summit on progress towards the MDGs held in New York in September 2005, and to the latter’s conclusions,

–  having regard to the Development Policy Statement signed by the Commission, Council and Parliament in December 2005,

–  having regard to the World Bank report on healthcare ‘Reaching the Poor: What Works, What Doesn’t and Why’, published on 7 December 2005,

–  having regard to the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, adopted by the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGASS) in June 2001, and its forthcoming Comprehensive Review and High-Level Meeting in June 2006,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas there is a grave shortage of health workers in many parts of the developing world, with migration both from and within poorer regions,

B.  whereas the shortage of human resources in the healthcare sector constitutes an emergency which not only involves developing countries, but is also a concern that affects Europe and all other states in the world,

C.  whereas the increased need for health workers in developed countries with ageing populations has attracted doctors and nurses from developing countries in particular, exacerbating the existing shortage of health workers in these countries,

D.  whereas the European Union has an important role to play in providing and supporting an international response, which must be given rapidly,

E.  whereas HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases have contributed to increasing levels of ill health in society in general and developing countries in particular,

F.  whereas recent World Bank research suggests that spending on healthcare often does not reach the poorest in society,

G.  whereas healthcare workers in developed, and particularly in developing, countries are often subject to increased risks of infection or exposure to toxic agents,

H.  whereas healthcare workers in developing countries may at times find themselves caught up in war or civil disturbances and are often subjected to violence or intimidation,

I.  whereas the training of healthcare workers in developing countries is often inadequate owing to a lack of natural resources and political will,

J.  whereas wars in the developing world create huge emergencies necessitating large numbers of specially trained healthcare workers,

K.  whereas, in order to be effective, healthcare workers in developing countries need a basic healthcare foundation system, including proper structural facilities with adequate technical and pharmaceutical support,

L.  whereas ongoing medical education, quality assurance and medical defence cover are essential in the practice of medicine by healthcare workers in developed countries,

1.  Welcomes the Commission Communication of December 2005 on a Strategy for Action on the Crisis in Human Resources for Health in Developing Countries, fully supporting its assertion that ‘MDG progress will be difficult to achieve without increased investment in the health workforce’, as well as its clear commitment to working in partnership with developing countries on development strategies;

2.  Welcomes the celebration on 7 April of World Health Day, which is focused on the shortage of health workers and represents an opportunity to recall the dreadful situation of the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian physician who are facing the death penalty in Tripoli;

3.  Reaffirms that the crisis in human resources for health is an issue of fundamental importance, which the European Union needs to tackle promptly given its leading role and its involvement in this priority area at domestic and international level;

4.  Recalls Parliament’s longstanding demand that 20% of developing countries’ funds be used for basic healthcare and basic education;

5.  Recognises the urgent need to improve harmonisation of donor assistance – within the EU as well as at global level – and agrees that budget support linked to sufficiently clear performance indicators can be an efficient way of both improving harmonisation and increasing predictability;

6.  Calls for adequate funding for reproductive health projects and condemns the ‘global gag rule’ (Mexico City Policy) which blocks US funding of such projects;

7.  Recognises that one major reason for this problematic situation in the developing countries is migration of health workers who are recruited by wealthier countries (especially EU countries and the USA), and calls for the EU to press for the development of a global Code of Conduct for Ethical Recruitment;

8.  Believes that the first step in combating this trend is to provide training and better working conditions for health workers in the areas concerned, to offer incentives to encourage them to work where they are most needed and to supply them with vaccinations in anticipation of potential pandemics;

9.  Calls on the Commission and Member States to implement fully the Coherence for Development Policy they signed up to in the Development Policy Statement by ensuring that migration policies do not work to the detriment of developing countries by actively seeking key health workers from the poorest nations;

10.  Underlines, nevertheless, that the best way of combating the ‘brain drain’ in the health sector is to provide career incentives for key health workers to stay in their home country; calls on the Commission, Member States and the governments of developing countries to invest in training of key health workers;

11.  Insists that the Commission and Member States do their utmost to ensure that healthcare funds reach the poorest in developing countries; highlights the urgent need for access to healthcare in rural and remote areas;

12.  Calls on the Commission and Member States to develop partnerships with hospitals in developing countries and to encourage cooperation via video conferencing, which can enable relatively small and remote hospitals to benefit from high-level expertise and guidance from other hospitals or countries and to support actively the development of primary health care;

13.  Calls for effective health workforce planning in all EU Member States in order to meet internal demand and minimise the negative implications for its neighbours, African countries and other affected nations;

14.  Believes that one priority for the EU, in order to remedy shortages of healthcare workers in various Member States, is to maintain and raise the number of its EU healthcare workers by a series of measures such as encouragement of professional mobility in the EU, provision of better working conditions, increased support in the form of investment in training and the development of effective incentive schemes which must be based on research, analysis and consultation of health workers;

15.  Stresses the need to develop an effective malaria vaccine, a process which can be accelerated through international partnerships between the private and the public sector;

16.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member State Heads of Government, the Heads of Government of all developing countries, and Dr Lee Jong-wook, Secretary-General of the World Health Organisation.