Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-13-Speech-4-050"
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"en.20030213.3.4-050"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are, then, well and truly members of a society with wall-to-wall media coverage, one that is inclined to favour certain aesthetic notions that tempt not only many women but also many men to change their appearance.
A number take the plunge and have recourse to cosmetic surgery. For others, such surgery takes on a reconstructive role and helps them heal their wounds and rebuild their bodies. In the former case, however, it is material external to themselves that their bodies are having to incorporate. In every case, it is essential that prostheses in the form of breast implants be subject to investigation and regulation and that all surgery be accompanied by safety information and be followed up, over the very long term in the case of women patients. In the light of all this, we can but agree with Mrs Stihler’s report and approve the changes proposed with a view to better informing and protecting not only female, but also male, patients.
I would note, for my part, a number of areas on which our activity must be focused. Although silicone implants are highly disparaged and have been subject to many studies, silicone is not the only component of the prostheses. I therefore think it essential to pursue research and clinical studies in this area, especially where women are concerned, by focusing the research on the long-term risks and on the other components. Moreover, I think it important that our nations and their health services be able to work as part of a network and to share information and good practice in this area so that all women patients in Europe might benefit from the same information and the same guarantees and so that impetus might be given to research.
Since we are concerned here with the provision of information and follow-up, it is essential that all patients possess all the data concerning their implants and the surgery that they are to undergo. It is also important that they be warned of the risks, the costs, the advantages and the disadvantages connected with the insertion and wearing of breast implants. I should think it worthwhile if, for once, Europe were to take its cue from Thailand and perfect measures designed to protect consumers against this advertising and fashion phenomenon and, in particular, to ban very young women from receiving implants. It is more and more important for all sections of the public to be given clear, scientific and comprehensible information if they are not to be the victims of false advertising and misleading images.
For the well-being of patients and the medical follow-up they require, I would therefore defend the idea of setting up national and European registers and of centralising data and other information in this field. In compliance with the law on the protection of personal data, such information should of course only be used for the purposes of studies and research in the field of health, particularly women’s health."@en1
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