Debate: EU Global Health Strategy
Date: WEDNESDAY, 19 APRIL 2023
Speaker: Stella Kyriakides
Language: EN

First of all, there was a lot of discussion on what the Commission has done in terms of medicine, affordability, availability and access. And we are coming forward with a new package on pharmaceuticals in the coming days. This will also be addressing an issue that was raised by several of you, which has to do with AMR, which you are absolutely right. AMR is a silent pandemic. We lose over 35 000 lives in the EU every year, and we will be addressing this as well in this package. There were several points raised to do with what we are doing in terms of treating cancer. I’d just like to thank the Parliament for the support for Europe’s Beating Cancer plan. There was a one of the MEPs raising the issue to do with breast cancer and inequality in access of treatment. Just to say that for the first time we issued in February the Cancer Inequalities Register, highlighting where in Member States and within Member States there are differences in access to screening and treatment so that we can give support where it is necessary. Of course, health remains a Member State competence and we are all aware of that. And Tilly Metz MEP said that we hear many citizens saying that we want more EU action at the level of health and not less, and I wanted to say thank you for the support in this Parliament so that now we have strong proposals that have been discussed for the European Health Union and this is where we can really give support to citizens at its best at the European level. And of course the proof of that – and I think that again, we need to recognise the important work and support of this Parliament – is that we had vaccines for COVID reaching every citizen of Europe at the same time, irrespective of what country they lived in, and that is EU health at its best. MEP Montserrat and MEP Walsh mentioned the issues to do with mental health, and you are absolutely correct in saying that this is one of the, I would say, most important issues that we are facing at the moment, not only due to the pandemic. And I wanted to just share with you that we will be coming forward with our first comprehensive strategy on mental health in early June this year. So we are taking an important first step, and that is no less thanks to the important work done in this Parliament highlighting this very important issue. Now, there were several points raised about vaccine nationalism, vaccines and what we did in terms of the pandemic and global health. And I wanted to say that the global response to the pandemic took place in record time, I believe no small thanks due to the EU leadership, and I believe that a core priority of the global health strategy is to combat current and future health threats. And we call for enhanced equity. And this is very important, and it’s for this reason that we have launched the Team Europe initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines and health technologies, MAV+, in Africa. And we’re also proposing to consider a permanent vaccine countermeasure platform, drawing on the experience of ACT-A. We have shown that as the EU, we are the pharmacy of the world and that the solidarity during the pandemic was exemplary. And now what we want to do is to work towards a permanent global mechanism to foster this development and equal access to vaccines. Now I want to just touch on an issue that was raised about the EU, the observer status in the WHO. Formal observer status is our concrete political objective. Full membership is aspirational. It would necessitate a modification of the WHO Constitution, but the observer status would not lead to any implications. Its political importance is obvious. It shows that Team Europe’s value to global health will now be showing its worth and the EU will be a meaningful actor on the world stage. There are no legal obstacles. And I wanted to tell you that Dr Tedros confirmed this to us during the event when we presented the Commission communication on the EU global health strategy to the WHO. So to obtain EU observer status in the UN General Assembly, this could be done in the form of a simple resolution. There were some issues raised on the issue to do with sexual and reproductive rights in the context of the global health strategy, and we do see that there is a pushback against sexual and reproductive health worldwide. We must uphold the EU’s strong commitment to the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls. These commitments are central to our global health strategy and, of course, the EU is very firmly committed to that. There were issues to do with universal health coverage, and of course we must lead with this, putting the EU first. And I just wanted to say that we will be working very strongly towards this in the global health strategy. We also need to work to reverse the tide and regain the lost ground for the universal health targets in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. We need to focus our firepower on strengthening our health systems, on universal health coverage, on primary healthcare, on public health and health determinants, on fixing the workforce imbalances – I know that you’re very aware of those – and paying particular attention to women and children and those in vulnerable situations. And last but not least, the issue to do with funding – I apologise, I am over time, but there were many points raised. Effective funding is a key element to the global health strategy and we have already looked at the way that we will be funding this and the EU financial contribution, and we will be working with the European Development Bank and the Bank for Reconstruction and Development to develop a framework for global health financing. This needs to be aligned with our priorities and those of our partner countries. I have tried to cover as many points as possible, but I just wanted to end by saying that we saw the difference that Team Europe can make and has made during the pandemic in the difficult times that Europe has been through and is going through. And with our global health strategy, we will be stepping up, because health is really the basis of the well—being of our citizens and for the stability of our economies and our societies. Thank you once again for a very constructive discussion.