WRITTEN QUESTION E-3004/00 by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission. Tuberculosis control.
Date: 2000-09-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Africa, Asia, EU programme, cooperation policy, epidemiology, health policy, infectious disease, medical research, scientific cooperation, therapeutics

C 136 E/154

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8.5.2001

Consequently, and as part of subsidiarity, the Commission is unable to ask that Member State to replace
the building of (cid:145)an elavated link(cid:146) with that of a (cid:145)hypsometric variant(cid:146) as requested by the Honourable
Member.

(2001/C 136 E/180)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3004/00

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission

(26 September 2000)

Subject: Tuberculosis control

The TB control strategy known as (cid:145)DOTS(cid:146) (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course) has proven to be
the most effective strategy available for controlling the TB epidemic.

Can the Commission outline what efforts it is making to promote DOTS as a method of tackling the
tuberculosis epidemic, particularly in Africa and Asia?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(19 October 2000)

Tuberculosis (TB) is in most cases curable if the drugs are taken continually for the full duration of the
course. Problems arise when there are interruptions to supply or when the patient stops treatment when
he or she feels better. This is a recipe for development of resistance of the TB bacillus to drugs. DOTS
is the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended
(directly observed treatment, short-course)
standard treatment against
tuberculosis and has developed as a result of 20 years of programme
experience.

This strategy is adopted in most countries in Africa and Asia and receives the Commission(cid:146)s support.

TB control is an integral component part of health systems. Effective TB control and treatment should be a
part of every national health programme and funded from the national budget. However due to multiple
demands and inadequate health funds TB programmes, particularly in developing countries, have often
relied on external donor assistance.

Many initiatives undertaken by the Community are important for tuberculosis control in Europe and in the
rest of the world.

Among the Community initiatives focused on Europe, the following should be mentioned:

(cid:129) Community network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases (1),
that brings into permanent communication the institutes and public health authorities dealing with
infectious diseases and

(cid:129) Community action programme on immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and other communicable
diseases (2), which provides financial assistance to projects such as Euro-TB (surveillance of TB in 51
countries of the WHO European Region which comprises also many Asian countries).

The Commission also participates in other relevant actions such as the (cid:145)Task Force on Communicable
Disease Control in the Baltic Sea Region(cid:146) and the (cid:145)EU-US Task Force on Communicable Diseases(cid:146).

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in
The Commission provides extensive support to strengthen health systems,
developing countries. This preference for a system-oriented approach has been a deliberate Community
policy. As a consequence, a detailed disease specific Community development budget breakdown for TB is
not available. Community commitments to health, AIDS and population in 1998 amounted to well over
€ 700 million for more than 100 developing countries.

including TB control,

Specific collaborative research activities with developing countries particularly geared to the development
and testing of new drugs, diagnostics and vaccines are administered under the regular Community research
budget. For the period 1994-1998, approximately € 3,5 million were spent for TB research.

Finally, on 20 September 2000 the Commission adopted a communication (3) to the Council and the
Parliament on a proposed accelerated action targeted at major communicable diseases (TB, malaria and
HIV/AIDS) within the context of poverty reduction. The new Community initiative offers the potential for
innovative cohesive strategies for combating the disease. A high-level round table discussion on this new
initiative was organised by the Commission together with WHO and the United Nations programme on
AIDS (Unaids) in Brussels on 28 September 2000. An action plan will now be prepared to implement
these strategies. The Commission will further enhance the availability and access to anti-tuberculosis drugs
in developing countries in order to improve the compliance to the treatment, in line with the DOTS
methodology.

(1) Decision No 2119/98/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 1998 (OJ L 268, 3.10.1998).
(2) Decision No 647/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 29 March 1996 (OJ L 95, 16.4.1996).
(3) COM(2000) 585 final.

(2001/C 136 E/181)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3006/00

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(26 September 2000)

Subject: Football

In view of the current interest in (cid:145)exempting(cid:146) football from some of the provisions of the Union Treaties,
would the Commission care to offer a definition of the game, one which might exclude rugby football and
American football from being able to introduce a (cid:145)transfer system(cid:146)?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(6 November 2000)

Sport is subject to Community law in so far as it constitutes an economic activity within the meaning of
Article 2 of the EC Treaty. The Court of Justice has pointed this out on several occasions since 1974 (1).
Sport therefore does not benefit from any general exemptions from the rules of the EC Treaty.

However, the Commission recognises that sport has certain specific characteristics, as it pointed out in the
Helsinki report (2). This means that the rules of the game and, in a general sense, the purely sporting rules
do not come under competition law. In the Helsinki Report, the Commission gave some indications of
what is covered by the laws of the game.

As far as the transfer system is concerned, the Commission would point out that, following the receipt of
complaints, proceedings are under way concerning FIFA(cid:146)s transfer system. It should be stressed that the
Commission(cid:146)s objective is not to abolish the system completely, but rather to make it compatible with
Community law, which means making certain changes.