RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND THE MINISTERS FOR HEALTH, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL

of 11 November 1991

concerning fundamental health-policy choices

(91/C 304/05)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THE MINISTERS FOR HEALTH, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

EMPHASIZE that it is a matter for the Member States to determine the organization and funding of their health-care systems and to make fundamental health-policy choices;

TAKE NOTE of the findings of the Conference on Health, held at Noordwijk, Netherlands, on 8, 9 and 10 October 1991, which:

- underline the importance of such fundamental choices and indicate that closer cooperation and collaboration between Member States is both desirable and necessary,

- recognize that Member States need to make allowances for the effects that the completion of the internal market may have on the operation of health-care services and their nature and extent,

- point out that Member States face comparable fundamental health-policy choices and can therefore help one another to make such fundamental choices more effectively,

- also urge Member States that, in order to assist with this process, they should work together to identify common problems and, where appropriate, find common solutions in order to contribute to the proper development of their health-care policy and thereby meet the legitimate wishes of consumers so that the availability of necessary prevention, treatment and care facilities of an acceptable standard is ensured for all inhabitants of a Member State,

- consider it necessary for Member States to bear in mind the changes in costs of health care and their implications for the availability of the requisite health-care services of proper quality,

- emphasize that in this respect Member States should make full use of the opportunities afforded by the Community and by international organizations, such as the Council of Europe and the World Health Organization,

- consider that health-policy choices and priorities are important topics which should regularly appear on the agenda of the Council of Ministers for Health,

- consider that the Council of Ministers for Health should be able to discuss aspects with health implications of any decision to be taken at Community level;

TAKE NOTE of the following topics, singled out at the Noordwijk Conference, which warrant joint consideration, regular joint discussion and/or joint efforts to assist Member States in framing their health policy:

- drawing up comparative data, for example by establishing common databases and exchanging data and by setting up relevant information systems, on the basis of priorities set in advance. Examples of relevant subjects are information on the state of health of the population in Member States and, if possible, on the efficiency of the medical services, use of such services and new technological developments in medicine, the propagation and control of contagious and other diseases, post-marketing monitoring of pharmaceutical products and medical apparatus. Moreover, careful preparation will be necessary before agreement is reached on the definitions to apply when data is gathered,

- continued application of specific Community programmes (evaluation of medical technology, possibilities of reducing divergences in states of health within and between the Member States, the problem of rationalizing health benefits and planning medical, paramedical and other staff requirements,

- development of strategies to facilitate choices and the setting of priorities in the health policies of the Member States,

- stimulation of scientific and public debate through the media, for example, and associating medical professionals in this process in order to contribute to the adoption of appropriate decisions in the context of a fair distribution of the resources available,

- revision of medical studies syllabuses in order to incorporate the relevant economic, legal, ethical and social aspects necessary to ensure that practitioners dispense adequate health care,

- analysis of the probable impact of completion of the internal market on national health policies, the medical sector in the Member States and medical and paramedical staff and, in this context, analysing the consequences for the population,

- analysis of the Community's possible contribution to removing current disparities between supply and demand owing to shortfalls of various kinds (for example in areas such as transfrontier supply of health care, the availability of organs for transplants, planning medical and paramedical staff requirements and mobility),

- pursuit of exchange of views on questions relating to the demography of the health professions;

CALL ON the Commission to prepare a report for the Council, in cooperation with the Member States, as a first step towards more detailed discussions on topics within the Community's field of competence, and which warrant joint consideration, regular joint discussion and/or joint efforts to assist Member States in framing their health policy and to submit an initial progress report to the Council before the end of 1992.