Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-01-15-Speech-2-246"
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"en.20080115.26.2-246"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the main purpose of the Community’s legal provisions and political strategies in the pharmaceutical field is to ensure that patients are supplied with safe, effective, high-quality medicines that are affordable and universally available.
On more than one occasion in the past, the question of the safety of medicines marketed through what is known as pharmaceutical parallel trade has been raised. That has prompted me to commission a study in order to get to the bottom of this issue; the study is to examine all aspects of sales channels and, in particular, questions relating to counterfeit medicines and parallel trade. The aim of the study is to analyse the present situation and to develop political options with a view to plugging gaps, if necessary by amending the current legal provisions. The study will also examine potential links between pharmaceutical parallel trade and the appearance of counterfeit medicines.
Regrettably, I must tell you that the first part of the study, devoted to parallel trade, which has now been completed, shows that such trade poses considerable risks to patient safety. Several factors are to blame, including mistakes in repackaging or relabelling, the limited effect of product recalls, the more complex distribution channels, supply interruptions and, finally, shortcomings in the enforcement of applicable legal provisions.
The Commission is currently analysing the findings of the study with a view to developing a coherent strategy for the elimination of these safety risks. The various political options are being examined for their foreseeable social, economic and environmental impact. Given the significant implications of this issue for public health policy, the Commission gives it high priority. Decisions on where we go from here will be taken shortly.
I should also like to inform you that the European Pharmaceutical Forum offers a platform for easier adoption and sharing of good practices with regard to the pricing of medicines and reimbursement of the cost of medicines. Although these matters fall within the purview of the Member States, the relevant measures still have to be consistent with Community law. The work of the Pharmaceutical Forum, in which patient organisations, members of the medical profession and leading figures in the industry as well as the Ministers of Health of all the Member States are represented, can help to resolve the major issue of affordable access to safe medicines."@en1
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