Patients' right to more information was a recurring theme at a conference on the pharmaceutical sector hosted by Commissioners Byrne and Liikanen.
A number of other areas will still need particular attention. These include:
A number of speakers pointed to the decrease in R&D investment in the EU. While in 1990, investment in the pharmaceuticals sector exceeded that of the US, by 2003, investment in the US was 30 per cent higher. Another speaker noted, however, that despite the upsurge in investment, the productivity in research has been dropping in the US. Some speakers underlined the fact that innovation should not be taken for granted and that instead sufficient incentives should be provided for industry to innovate.
Jean-François Dehecq, Vice President of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) highlighted the fact that the issue is not the competitiveness of EU pharmaceutical companies but rather the competitiveness of the EU environment as a home for future technologies. The same speaker lamented the fact that the pharmaceuticals market does not function as a single market due to national price controls. Rory O'Riordan, President of the European Generic medicines Association (EGA) said an EU equivalent to the USA's National Institutes of Health should be created which would provide funding for European research into the development of new pharmaceutical products. Albert Esteve, President of the Association of the European Self-Medication Industry (AESGP) said that advertising should be allowed for self-medication products and that market forces should be allowed to decide on the appropriate price levels for such products.
High-level government representatives from different Member States warned that industry's drive for short-term profit-maximising will not go down well with citizens. Ulla Sc hmidt, the German Minister of Health and Social Security cautioned that innovative value and therapeutic value do not always overlap. Sometimes a small percentage of benefit results in a much higher price which means that only the richest might benefit. The health ministry representatives agreed that the unnecessarily high levels of medicine consumption should be discouraged.
A recurring theme in the discussion was the need to provide patients with improved information on medicines. Most speakers agreed that this should not take the form of direct to consumer advertising.
Angela Coulter, Chief Executive of the Picker Institute said she was opposed to market-based considerations when dealing with information to patients. The selection criteria for providing information should be driven by public health considerations. Relaxing medicine advertising rules would distort public health priorities. At the same time, patients should be provided with more reliable information so that they can become active participants in their own healthcare.
In March 2001, Enterprise Commissioner Erkki Liikanen and Public Health Commissioner David Byrne launched the so-called 'Group of ten' or 'G10' process involving top decision-makers in the EU on medicines. The aim of the G10 was to discuss a new agenda to improve the framework for competitiveness in the pharmaceutical industry and to harness its power to deliver on Europe's health care goals. Representatives of national governments, industry, patients and mutualities were directly involved in this discussion.
The G10 medicines group's recommendations are in line with the agenda set by the Lisbon Council in 2000 (see also EurActiv's LinksDossier on
).The high-level group delivered its recommendations in May 2002. The Commission followed them up by proposing implementing actions to be taken by the Commission, the Member States, by the two jointly, and by patient groups.
The Commission hosted a conference, on 3 June, to discuss next steps in the G10 process.
