European Parliament resolution on World Health Day
Date: 2006-04-06
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: developing countries, development aid, health care, health care profession, health policy, labour shortage, public health, vocational training

C 293 E/308

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

2.12.2006

Thursday 6 April 2006

5.
Urges the Commission and Council to respond promptly and concretely to the growing hopes of the
Ukrainian people, who are increasingly looking to the EU, and to consider a further strengthening of the
measures included in the European Neighbourhood Policy's Action Plan which are designed to support the
further democratic development of Ukraine, in particular with regard to strengthening respect for the rule of
law and the continuation and strengthening of social and economic reforms; also urges the Member States
to undertake similar initiatives and projects to provide concrete support, contributing to a continuation of
the democratisation and reform process in Ukraine;

Calls upon the new government formed after these elections to consolidate Ukraine's espousal of
6.
common European values and objectives by taking further steps to promote democracy, human rights,
civil society and the rule of law, by resuming market reforms and by overcoming the political divisions in
Ukraine;

Urges the new Ukrainian Government to continue to be a reliable partner of the European Union,
7.
with specific regard to enhancing stability in the region, in particular in finding a solution to the Trans-
Dniester problem;

Appeals to all neighbouring countries to fully respect the democratic choice of the Ukrainian people
8.
and to refrain from any economic or other pressure to change the democratically decided further political,
social and economic development of the country;

Looks forward to a visa-facilitation agreement between the EU and Ukraine with the final goal of a
9.
non-visa regime, but, in the interim, calls on the Commission to fully respect the existing agreements on
free multiple-entry visas with seven Member States, as well as other actions geared to realising Ukraine's
European perspective; calls for further action to move Ukraine towards full membership of the World Trade
Organisation;

10.
Notes that the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities
and Ukraine (1) expires in 2008, and calls on the Commission to begin to negotiate an Association Agree-
ment;

11.
Looks forward to increased cooperation with the Verkhovna Rada and to a sustained transition pro-
cess in Ukraine that will bring the country closer to the objective of ever more intensive cooperation with
the European Union, and commits itself to assisting and supporting Ukraine in this process;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government
12.
and Parliament of Ukraine and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and
NATO.

(1) OJ L49, 19.2.1998, p. 3.

P6_TA(2006)0139

World Health Day

The European Parliament,

European Parliament resolution on World Health Day

— 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 Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parlia-
ment on an EU strategy for action on the crisis in human resources for health in developing countries
(COM(2005)0642),

2.12.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 293 E/309

Thursday 6 April 2006

— having regard to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),

— having regard to the second High-Level Forum on the Health MDGs held in Abuja in December 2004,

and to its conclusions,

— having regard to the 2005 World Summit in New York on 14-16 September 2005 and its conclusions

on the progress towards the MDGs,

— having regard to the joint statement by the Council and the representatives of the governments of the
Member States meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on European
Union Development Policy: The European Consensus (1),

— having regard to the World Bank report on healthcare ‘Reaching the Poor with Health, Nutrition and

Population Services: 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(4) 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 is acute not only in developing
countries, but also in Europe and all other states in the world, not least in the event of pandemics,

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 both donor and recipient countries have signed up to the MDGs, three of which are directly
improving maternal health and tackling HIV/AIDS, TB,

related to health: reducing child mortality,
malaria and other diseases,

E. whereas access to health services is a fundamental human right,

F. whereas HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria have contributed to increasing levels of ill health in society in
general and developing countries in particular, with particularly damaging effects on the health sector,
including losses of health workers,

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 wars in the developing world create major emergencies necessitating large numbers of specially

trained healthcare workers,

I. whereas the training of healthcare workers in developing countries is often inadequate owing to a lack

of political will and resources,

J. whereas, in order to be effective, healthcare workers in developing countries require proper infrastruc-

ture, with adequate technical and pharmaceutical support,

K. whereas ongoing medical education, quality assurance and medical defence cover are essential in the

practice of medicine by healthcare workers in developing countries,

(1) OJ C 46, 24.2.2006, p. 1.

C 293 E/310

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

2.12.2006

Thursday 6 April 2006

1. Welcomes the abovementioned Commission Communication and fully supports its assertion that
‘MDG progress will be difficult to achieve without increased investment in the health workforce’ and its
clear commitment to working in partnership with developing countries on development strategies;

2.
Criticises, nevertheless, the contradiction between the Commission's stated commitment to improving
healthcare in developing countries and achieving the MDGs and its track record on spending development
funds in the healthcare sector; stresses, for example, that in 2003 only 5,2 % of the European Development
Fund was earmarked for health spending, and only 4 % in 2002;

3.
Views as deeply regrettable indications that the Commission intends to propose that only 6 % of
development funds within the new development cooperation instrument be allocated to human and social
development, covering not only healthcare, HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health, but all other
social development, including children, education and gender programmes;

4.
Calls on the Commission to adhere to Parliament's longstanding demand that 35 % of development
funds be used for the social sector, with 20 % of overall funds being used for basic healthcare and basic
education;

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

Calls for adequate funding for reproductive health projects and condemns the ‘global gag rule’ (Mexico

6.
City Policy) which blocks US funding of such projects;

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

8.
Believes that the first step in combating this trend would be 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 that they signed up to in the abovementioned joint statement on development policy by ensuring
that migration policies do not work to the detriment of developing countries by actively seeking key health
workers from the poorest nations;

Stresses, nevertheless, that the best way of combating the ‘brain drain’ in the health sector is to
10.
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 the training of key health workers;

11.
Calls on developing countries to restore their public and basic healthcare systems and services and for
the EU to support this process through aid for the reinforcement of human and institutional capacities and
infrastructure,
including an improvement in working conditions for medical staff, provision of suitable
medical equipment and transfer of technology;

12.
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;

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C 293 E/311

Thursday 6 April 2006

13.
Urges the Member States to make global health and medicines a strategic sector and to take deter-
mined action to emphasise priorities in research and development in order to address the needs of patients,
especially those in resource-poor settings;

Urges the EU to ensure that progress in basic science and biomedicine is translated into improved,
14.
safe and affordable healthcare, including access to essential medicines, for all patients, especially those living
in poverty;

Calls on the Commission and Member States to develop partnerships with hospitals in developing
15.
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;

Calls for effective health workforce planning in all Member States in order to meet internal demand

16.
and minimise the negative implications for its neighbours, African countries and other affected nations;

Calls on the Commission and Member States actively to support medical education in developing

17.
countries, as well as access thereto for students from rural and remote areas;

18.
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;

Takes the view that it is fundamental to guarantee access to high-quality and free health services for

19.
all;

Stresses the need to develop an effective malaria vaccine, a process which can be accelerated through

20.
international partnerships between the private and the public sector;

Expresses its appreciation and support for the work of NGOs that render assistance and expertise in

21.
the area of health in developing countries; calls on the Commission actively to support these NGOs;

Recalls the dreadful situation of the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian physician who are

22.
facing the death penalty in Tripoli;

23.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of
the Member States and of all developing countries, and Dr Lee Jong-wook, Secretary-General of the World
Health Organisation.

P6_TA(2006)0140

Work of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in 2005

European Parliament resolution on the work of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in 2005
(2005/2104(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific
(ACP) Group of States, of the one part, and the Community and its Member States, of the other part,
signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (Cotonou Agreement) (1) and amended in Luxembourg on 25 June
2005 (2),

(1) OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3.
(2) OJ L 287, 28.10.2005, p. 4.