Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-09-16-Speech-2-455-000"
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"en.20140916.23.2-455-000"2
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"Mr President, in the context of access to life-saving medicines in Europe, shortages are caused by a number of factors. They are caused by supply issues, they are caused by production issues and, most certainly, they are caused by affordability issues. I intend to concentrate on the affordability issues.
The problem is particularly acute in countries undergoing austerity programmes, largely because of the cuts to public services across the board, which of course limit access to healthcare and life-saving medicines. The Commission itself, in its country-specific recommendations, tells us that limitations on access to healthcare may weigh disproportionately on the more vulnerable sections of society, the people who rely disproportionately on public services. In my own country, Ireland, the cuts in health expenditure between 2009 and 2011 were of the order of 17% and, according to Social Justice Ireland, the cuts in 2013 amounted to 5%. That comes to more than one-fifth of the healthcare budget, and the impact on access to healthcare and life-saving medicines has been huge.
Lastly, I want to add my voice to the long list of organisations, including the European consumer organisation AGE Platform, and the Standing Committee of European Doctors, asking Commissioner Juncker to revisit his decision to move medicinal products and health technologies into the portfolio of the Commissioner for the Internal Market. That Commissioner’s mandate, of course, is to promote the competitiveness of the industry, whereas the main driver of EU policies on medicine and health technologies should be the promotion of health and patient safety."@en1
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