Health groups want Commission vice president from 2019

The Commission ‘should have the tools and governance in place … for ensuring a health perspective in all policies,’ they argue.

LONDON — A European Commission vice president for health should be top of the EU’s to-do list in 2019, according to a weighty list of demands being prepared by health care organizations ahead of the European election.

The elevation of the health commissioner position would “ensure effective coordination and leadership at high level,” 28 organizations including patient groups, hospitals, pharmaceutical and biotech companies and regional health care providers will say Thursday, according to a copy of the manifesto obtained ahead of publication.

With the EU’s competence in health limited to a shared role with national governments, one of the recurring frustrations among EU health groups is Brussels’ inability to touch many areas of health care policy.

As it stands, the directorate-general for health and food safety, DG SANTE, is a low-profile portfolio, and that’s unlikely to change under the next Commission.

But a vice president would help the Commission “have the tools and governance in place, including at high level, for ensuring a health perspective in all policies,” the groups argue — citing education, environment and socio-economic policies as areas of importance.

The manifesto includes 20 recommendations for the next European Parliament and Commission. The new cohort of MEPs will be elected at the end of May and committee chairs selected in July. Commissioners will be confirmed in October.

Nathalie Moll, director general of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, said the idea was to work “together for one goal” to present a single messaging to the EU’s next health legislators.

The demands stick largely to the realms of what’s realistic within Brussels’ limited competence on health — although achieving them will require EU countries to be on board.

The manifesto, signed by organizations including the European Patients’ Forum, MedTech Europe, the European Brain Council, Active Citizenship Network and the European Union of Private Hospitals, will be presented at an EU Health Summit in Brussels on November 29.

Raising visibility, cash

The organizations want the Commission to set up a new “Steering Board for Health” to “coordinate programs under Horizon Europe, guide applicants and create greater visibility for European health research programs” — an idea the European Parliament’s industry and research committee backed Wednesday.

The contributors argue this should be “a pilot and a first step towards the establishment of a European Council for Health Research,” which should “promote deeper and longer-term collaborative and transnational initiatives that address the current gaps in the innovation cycle.”

They also want more cash. The organizations say the EU budget for health should be ring-fenced, while 25 percent of the Horizon Europe research program budget should be dedicated to biomedical and health-related research.

They argue the EU should assess the level of impact a new reimbursed technology is having on health systems, since “research outcomes do not live up [to] the expectations of competitive markets, and they are not sufficiently translated into medical practices.”

Access to health care

The EU already allows patients to access health services in other countries under the cross-border health care regulation — but this should be widened to more services including diagnostics and clinical trials, the groups say.

The existing health care directive “was a good first step in improving patients’ rights to cross-border health care, but still contains several constraints and possibilities for national insurance systems in blocking cross-border access,” according to the manifesto.

The groups want to build on the success of the European Reference Networks to treat patients and share knowledge on rare and complex diseases, which currently includes over 900 associated hospitals. They argue that areas beyond rare diseases, including guideline development, consultation and data collection, would benefit from this kind of collaborative working.

They also want the EU to fund pilot projects in health care that could prove “best practice” for treatment — as well as giving countries more advice on their health systems, something that countries have been highly resistant to but which the manifesto says is “one of [the EU’s] key mandates in health policy.”

Sharing data

The organizations call for the creation of a European Health Data Institute that would collect a range of health data from EU countries, regions, payers and insurance companies.

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EU countries could “mandate health data holders to flow pseudonymized data” to the institute, “building on efforts to set up a European Research Infrastructure Consortium for health information,” they argue.

They also want a “European Digital Platform” to provide a framework for governance of personal health data, allowing patients to express the choices regarding how their health data, and subsequent research, is used. The Commission should work with EU countries to garner their support for the platform, the groups said.

They also want the Commission to support ministries of health, regional health authorities and sickness funds with their e-health strategies and provide guidance on interoperability of services.