Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-16-Speech-4-048"
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"en.20060316.5.4-048"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I too should, of course, like to start by congratulating Mr Trakatellis not only on his sterling report, but, above all, on the way in which he always had time for all Members, who were keen that their concerns should eventually be reflected in the report. It is a very important report, because it formulates the Community action programmes in terms of public health for the next six years, which cannot be fleshed out by the individual Member States. I think it is safe to say that the rapporteur has successfully managed to combine all relevant and specific aspects in such a vast, and at the same time sensitive, area as public health.
I am particularly delighted that for the first time, it is possible to include complementary and alternative medicine in the actions, as a result of which the public can make more informed and responsible choices in connection with their own health. I am all too aware that alternative methods of medicine are all too often greeted with jeers, but the many people who derive benefit from them claim otherwise, of course. Nevertheless, the Commission has quoted a figure according to which no less than 30% of the population and some hundreds of thousands of doctors and therapists demand these alternative methods.
Better knowledge of complementary medicine will be a major step forward for public health, and so I wholeheartedly endorse the tackling of the problem of the shortage of organs on an EU-wide scale. Both the setting up of common platforms for donors and recipients, and the development of activities to improve safety and the quality of organs can help in this throughout the EU.
As a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, I should, above all, like to stress that health is affected by environmental factors. All too often, people remain oblivious, for example, to the impact of exposure to certain toxic substances. Providing clear information, backed by scientific research, could go a long way in preventing much suffering and also avoid misunderstandings.
The action programme provides specific measures in the area of prevention, detection and raising awareness as well as in terms of information about serious diseases. As a member of MAC, ‘MEPs against Cancer’, recently set up at the heart of Parliament, I can do no other than applaud these concrete steps. There is one thing, however, that I, like many other Members, find hard to digest.
For as long as no agreement is reached about the financial perspectives for the next period, discussion of this action programme will remain merely academic. Even so, the need is considerable, the ambitions even more so, and Parliament will therefore need, in the next few months, to ensure that the necessary funds are actually made available."@en1
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