<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)</b> crossposted from : <a href="mailto:EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org">EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org</a><div class="gmail_quote"><br><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><b><font size="3" color="maroon" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:maroon;font-weight:bold">European Parliament passes resolution on reducing health
inequalities<br>
<br>
</span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold">08 March 2011<br>
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</span></font></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span><font size="2" color="black" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">Website: <a href="http://bit.ly/fVK9Sd" target="_blank"><font color="black"><span style="color:black">http://bit.ly/fVK9Sd</span></font></a></span><br>
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</font></span><font size="2" color="black" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">“….Resolution from the
European Parliament underlines that everybody should have access to healthcare
systems and affordable healthcare. The specific needs of vulnerable groups such
as women, older patients, undocumented migrants, ethnic minorities, need to be
taken better into account.</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Life expectancy has been shown to
vary across EU Member States by 14.2 years for men and 8.3 years for women
(Eurostat figures for 2007 and 2010 respectively), says the resolution, which
was drafted by Edite Estrela (S&D, PT) and adopted by 379 votes to 228 with
49 abstentions. <br>
<br>
</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Also within countries, groups of
different education levels and social situations have widely differing health
prospects….”<br>
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</span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">The text of the resolution can be
found at:</span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span><font size="2" color="black" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"><a href="http://bit.ly/fVK9Sd" target="_blank"><font color="black"><span style="color:black">http://bit.ly/fVK9Sd</span></font></a></span><br>
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</font></span><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font size="2" color="maroon" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:maroon;font-weight:bold">European
Parliament resolution of 8 March 2011 on reducing health inequalities in the
EU (<a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/FindByProcnum.do?lang=en&procnum=INI/2010/2089" target="_blank"><font color="maroon"><span style="color:maroon;text-decoration:none">2010/2089(INI)</span></font></a></span></font></b><b><font size="2" color="#6679b4" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:#6679B4;font-weight:bold">)</span></font></b></p>
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<p><span><i><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">The European
Parliament</span></font></i></span><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666"> ,</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">– </span></font><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">having regard to Articles 168 and 184 of the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union,<br>
– having regard to Article 2 of the Treaty on European
Union,<br>
– having regard to Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union,<br>
– having regard to Article 23 of the Charter of
Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which deals with equality between
men and women in all areas,<br>
– having regard to the Commission Communication entitled
‘Solidarity in health: reducing health inequalities in the EU’ (<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/liste_resultats.cfm?CL=en&ReqId=0&DocType=COM&DocYear=2009&DocNum=0567" target="_blank"><b><font color="#ffae63"><span style="color:#FFAE63;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">COM(2009)0567</span></font></b></a>),<br>
– having regard to Council Decision 1350/2007/EC of 23
October 2007 establishing a second programme of Community action in the field
of health (2008-13)<a name="12ec575268ccba53_ref_1_1"></a><a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0081+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN#def_1_1%23def_1_1" target="_blank"><span><b><sup><font color="#ffae63"><span style="color:#FFAE63;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">(1)</span></font></sup></b></span></a>
,<br>
– having regard to Council Decision 2010/48/EC of 26 November
2009 concerning the conclusion, by the European Community, of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities<a name="12ec575268ccba53_ref_1_2"></a><a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0081+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN#def_1_2%23def_1_2" target="_blank"><span><b><sup><font color="#ffae63"><span style="color:#FFAE63;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">(2)</span></font></sup></b></span></a>
,<br>
– having regard to the Social Protection Committee Opinion
on ‘Solidarity in health: reducing health inequalities in the
EU’,<br>
– having regard to the Council Conclusions of 8 June 2010 on
‘Equity and Health in All Policies: Solidarity in Health’,<br>
– having regard to the report on the second joint assessment
by the Social Protection Committee and the Commission of the social impact of
the economic crisis and of policy responses,<br>
– having regard to the Council Conclusions on ‘Common
values and principles in European Union Health Systems’ (2006/C
146/01),<br>
– having regard to the Council Resolution of 20 November
2008 on the health and well-being of young people,<br>
– having regard to the Final Report of the Commission on Social
Determinants of Health (WHO, 2008),<br>
– having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the
Regions on ‘Solidarity in health: reducing health inequalities in the
EU’,<br>
– having regard to its resolution of 1 February 2007 on
Promoting Healthy Diets and Physical Activity: a European Dimension for the
Prevention of Overweight, Obesity and Chronic Diseases<a name="12ec575268ccba53_ref_1_3"></a><a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0081+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN#def_1_3%23def_1_3" target="_blank"><span><b><sup><font color="#ffae63"><span style="color:#FFAE63;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">(3)</span></font></sup></b></span></a>
) and its resolution of 25 September 2008 on the White Paper on Nutrition,
Overweight and Obesity-related Health Issues<a name="12ec575268ccba53_ref_1_4"></a><a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0081+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN#def_1_4%23def_1_4" target="_blank"><span><b><sup><font color="#ffae63"><span style="color:#FFAE63;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">(4)</span></font></sup></b></span></a>
,<br>
– having regard to its resolution of 9 October 2008 on
the White Paper entitled ‘Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for
the EU 2008-2013’<a name="12ec575268ccba53_ref_1_5"></a><a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0081+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN#def_1_5%23def_1_5" target="_blank"><span><b><sup><font color="#ffae63"><span style="color:#FFAE63;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">(5)</span></font></sup></b></span></a>
,<br>
– having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,<br>
– having regard to the report of the Committee on the
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the opinions of the Committee
on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and of the Committee on
Women's Rights and Gender Equality (<a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A7-2011-0032&language=EN" target="_blank"><b><font color="#ffae63"><span style="color:#FFAE63;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">A7-0032/2011</span></font></b></a>),</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">A. whereas universality, access
to high-quality care, equity and solidarity are common values and principles
underpinning the health systems in the EU Member States,<br>
B. whereas, while people live, on average, longer and healthier
lives than previous generations, the EU is faced, in the context of an ageing
population, with an important challenge, namely the wide disparities in
physical and mental health which exist and are growing between and within EU
Member States,<br>
C. whereas the difference in life expectancy at birth between the
lowest and highest socioeconomic groups is 10 years for men and six years for
women,<br>
D. whereas the gender dimension in terms of life expectancy is
also a major issue to be addressed in the context of health inequalities,<br>
E. whereas, apart from genetic determinants, health is influenced
above all by people's lifestyles, by their access to healthcare services,
including health information and education, disease prevention and treatment
for short- and long-term illnesses; whereas lower socioeconomic groups are
more susceptible to poor nutrition and to tobacco and alcohol dependency, all
of which are major contributory factors in many diseases and conditions,
including cardiovascular diseases and cancers,<br>
F. whereas inequalities in health between people in higher and
lower educational, occupational and income groups have been found in all
Member States,<br>
G. whereas there is evidence of a gender dimension in malnutrition
rates which suggests that women suffer more from malnutrition and that this
inequality is exacerbated further down the socioeconomic scale,<br>
H. whereas gender and age inequalities in biomedical research and
the under-representation of women in clinical trials undermine patient care,<br>
I. whereas the comparative
measurement of health inequalities is a fundamental first step towards
effective action,<br>
J. whereas rates of morbidity are usually higher among those in
low educational, occupational and income groups and substantial inequalities
can also be seen in the prevalence of most specific forms of disability and
of most specific chronic non-communicable diseases, oral diseases and forms
of mental illness,<br>
K. whereas the incidence of tobacco use among women, particularly
young women, is rapidly rising, with devastating consequences for their
future health; and whereas, in the case of women, smoking is aggravated by
multiple disadvantage,<br>
L. whereas the Commission has noted that there is a social
gradient in health status in all the EU Member States (Commission
Communication of 20 October 2010 entitled ‘Solidarity in Health:
Reducing Health Inequalities in the EU’); and whereas the World Health
Organisation defines this social gradient as being the link between
socioeconomic inequalities and inequalities in the areas of health and access
to healthcare,<br>
M. whereas numerous projects and studies have confirmed that the
onset of overweight and obesity in particular is characterised by early
disparities linked to the socioeconomic environment and that the highest
incidence rates of overweight and obesity are registered in lower
socioeconomic groups; whereas this situation could lead to even greater
health and socioeconomic inequalities owing to the increased risk of
obesity-related diseases,<br>
N. whereas despite the socioeconomic and environmental progress
that has led to an overall improvement in people's health status over long
periods, a number of factors, such as hygiene, living and working conditions,
malnutrition, education, income, alcohol consumption and smoking, are still
having a direct impact on health inequalities,<br>
O. whereas climate change is expected to result in a number of
potential health impacts through increased frequency of extreme weather
events, such as heat waves and floods, through changing patterns of
infectious disease, and via increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation;
whereas not all EU countries are equally prepared to address these
challenges,<br>
P. whereas health inequalities are not only the result of a host
of economic, environmental and lifestyle-related factors, but also of
problems relating to access to healthcare,<br>
Q. whereas health inequalities are also linked to problems in
accessing healthcare, both for economic reasons (not so much for major
treatment, which is dealt with correctly by the Member States, but rather for
everyday treatment, such as dental and eye care) and as a result of poor
distribution of medical resources in certain areas of the EU,<br>
R. whereas the dearth of medical professionals in certain parts of
the EU and the fact that they can easily move to other parts of the EU is a
real problem, and whereas this situation is resulting in major inequalities
in terms of access to healthcare and patient safety,<br>
S. whereas people living in remote and island areas continue to
have limited access to prompt and high-quality healthcare,<br>
T. whereas patients living with chronic diseases or conditions
form a specific group which suffers inequalities in access to diagnosis and
care, social and other support services, and disadvantages including
financial strain, poor access to employment, social discrimination and
stigma,<br>
U. whereas violence against women is a widespread phenomenon in
all countries and among all social classes and has a dramatic effect on the
physical and emotional health of women and children,<br>
V. whereas infertility is a medical condition recognised by the
World Health Organisation which has a particular impact on women's health,
and whereas the UK National Awareness Survey has shown that over 94% of women
suffering from infertility also suffer from forms of depression,<br>
W. whereas there are wide disparities between Member States in
terms of access to fertility treatment,<br>
X. whereas, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistical office,
unemployment across the 27 EU Member States reached 9.6% in September 2010,
and whereas the Council of the European Union's Social Protection Committee,
in its opinion of 20 May 2010, expressed concern that the present
economic and financial crisis will adversely affect people's access to
healthcare and Member States' health budgets,<br>
Y. whereas the current economic and financial crisis may have a
severe impact on the healthcare sector in several EU Member States, on both
the supply and the demand sides,<br>
Z. whereas the restrictions due to the current economic and
financial crisis, combined with the consequences of the forthcoming
demographic challenge that the Union will have to face, could seriously
undermine the financial and organisational sustainability of Member States'
healthcare systems, thus hindering equal access to care on their territories,</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">AA. whereas the combination of
poverty and other forms of vulnerability, such as childhood or old age,
disability or minority background, further increases the risks of health
inequalities, and whereas, vice versa, ill health can lead to poverty and/or
social exclusion,<br>
AB. whereas early years have lifelong effects on many aspects of
health and well-being – from obesity, heart disease and mental health,
to education, professional achievement, economic status and quality of life,<br>
AC. whereas health inequalities have significant economic
implications for the EU and for Member States; whereas losses linked to
health inequalities have been estimated to cost around 1.4% of GDP,<br>
AD. whereas in many EU countries equitable access to healthcare is
not guaranteed, either in practice or in law, for undocumented migrants,<br>
AE. whereas cases still arise in the Member States of members of
various social groups (for example, people with disabilities) being faced
with obstacles to equal admission to healthcare establishments, which limits
their access to health services,<br>
AF. whereas, with their ageing populations, the Member States are
having to deal with problems relating to dependency and an increasing need
for geriatric care and treatment; whereas a change in the approach to
organising healthcare is therefore needed; and whereas inequalities relating
to access to healthcare for elderly people are on the increase,</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">1. Welcomes the key suggestions
made by the Commission in its Communication entitled ‘Solidarity in
health: reducing health inequalities in the EU’: (1) making a more
equitable distribution of health part of our overall goals for social and economic
development; (2) improving the data and knowledge bases (including measuring,
monitoring, evaluation, and reporting); (3) building commitment across
society for reducing health inequalities; (4) meeting the needs of vulnerable
groups; and (5) developing the contribution of EU policies to the reduction
of health inequalities;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">2. Stresses the importance of
healthcare services being provided in a manner consistent with fundamental
rights; points to the need to maintain and improve universal access to healthcare
systems and to affordable healthcare;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">3. Points to the importance of
improving access to disease prevention, health promotion and primary and
specialised healthcare services, and reducing the inequalities between
different social and age groups, and emphasises that these objectives could
be achieved by optimising public spending on preventive and curative
healthcare and targeted programmes for vulnerable groups;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">4. Calls on the Commission and
Member States to press ahead with their efforts to tackle socio-economic
inequalities, which would ultimately make it possible to reduce some of the
inequalities relating to healthcare; furthermore, on the basis of the
universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity, calls on
the Commission and Member States to focus on the needs of vulnerable groups,
including disadvantaged migrant groups and people belonging to ethnic
minorities, children and adolescents, people with disabilities, with a
special focus on mental illness, patients diagnosed with chronic diseases or
conditions, older people, people living in poverty, and people affected by
alcoholism and drug addiction;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">5. Calls on the Member States to
ensure that the most vulnerable groups, including undocumented migrants, are
entitled to and are provided with equitable access to healthcare; calls on
the Member States to assess the feasibility of supporting healthcare for
irregular migrants by providing a definition based on common principles for
basic elements of healthcare as defined in their national legislation; </span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">6. Calls on the Member States to
take account of the specific health protection needs of immigrant women, with
particular reference to the guaranteed provision by health systems of
appropriate language mediation services; those systems should develop
training initiatives enabling doctors and other professionals to adopt an
intercultural approach based on recognition of, and respect for, diversity
and the sensitivities of people from different geographical regions; priority
must also be given to measures and information campaigns to combat female
genital mutilation, including severe penalties for those who practise it;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">7. Calls on the EU and the Member
States rapidly to find ways of combating ethnic discrimination, particularly
in certain Member States where Council Directive 2000/43/EC has not been
implemented and where women from ethnic minorities have little or no social
protection or access to healthcare;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">8. Calls on the Member States to
promote access to high-quality legal advice and information in coordination
with civil society organisations to help ordinary members of the public,
including undocumented migrants, to learn more about their individual rights;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">9. Emphasises that the economic
and financial crisis and the austerity measures taken by Member States, in
particular on the supply side, may lead to a reduction in the level of
funding for public health and health promotion, disease prevention and long-term
care services as a result of budget cuts and lower tax revenues, while the
demand for health and long-term care services may increase as a result of a
combination of factors that contribute to the deterioration of the health
status of the general population;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">10. Stresses that health
inequalities in the EU represent a substantial burden to Member States and
their healthcare systems and that the effective functioning of the internal
market and strong and, if possible, coordinated public policies on prevention
can contribute to improvements in this field;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">11. Stresses that countering
socio-economic factors such as obesity, smoking, etc., the accessibility of
healthcare systems (jeopardised by the non-reimbursement of the cost of care
and of medicines, inadequate prevention and the fragmentation of medical
demography) and effective diagnosis should be considered key aspects of
measures to combat health inequality and that, in addition, the accessibility
and affordability of pharmaceutical treatments should also be regarded as a
key aspect of individual people's health; therefore calls on Member States to
ensure that the Transparency Directive (89/105/EEC) is being properly
implemented and that the conclusions from the 2008 Commission Communication
on the Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry are being appropriately addressed;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">12. Stresses that healthcare is
not and should not be regarded as a general good or service;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">13. Calls on the Council and the
Member States to evaluate and implement new measures to improve the
effectiveness of their health expenditure, in particular by investing in
preventive healthcare so as to reduce future longer-term costs and social
burdens, and to restructure healthcare systems in order to provide equitable
access to high-quality healthcare (in particular basic medical care) without
discrimination throughout the EU, and encourages the Commission to study the
use of existing European funds in order to further promote investment in
health infrastructure, research and training and to promote and step up
disease prevention;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">14. Calls on the Commission and
the Member States to ensure that equitable access to healthcare and treatment
options for older patients are included in their health policies and
programmes and to make adequate access to healthcare and treatments for older
people a priority for ‘2012 European Year for Active Ageing and
Intergenerational Solidarity’; calls on the Member States to promote
initiatives in order to tackle social isolation in elderly patients as it has
a significant impact on patients' longer-term health; stresses the need for
the European Union and its Member States to anticipate, through an
appropriate long-term strategy, the social and economic impact of the ageing
of the European population, in order to guarantee the financial and
organisational sustainability of healthcare systems, as well as equal and
continued delivery of care for patients;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">15. Calls on the Member States to
improve their capacity to monitor closely, at national, regional and local
levels, the health and social impact of the crisis;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">16. Calls on the Commission to
foster the pooling of experience in connection with health education, healthy
lifestyle promotion, prevention, early diagnosis and appropriate treatments,
in particular in relation to drinking, smoking, diet and obesity and drugs;
calls on Member States to promote physical activity, good nutrition and
‘Healthy Schools’ programmes targeted at children, in particular
in more disadvantaged areas, and to improve levels of personal, social and
health education, with view to promoting healthier behaviour and encouraging
positive lifestyle-related behaviour;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">17. Encourages all the Member
States to invest in social, educational, environmental and health
infrastructure in line with the principle of ‘health in all
policies’,while coordinating measures concerning the qualification,
training and mobility of health professionals, thus guaranteeing the capacity
and sustainability of the health infrastructure and workforce at both EU and
national level;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">18. Emphasises that health
inequalities in the Union will not be overcome without a common and overall
strategy for the European health workforce, including coordinated policies
for resource management, education and training, minimum quality and safety
standards, and registration of professionals;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">19. Calls on the Member States to
ensure that information on health, healthy lifestyles, healthcare, prevention
opportunities, early diagnosis of diseases and suitable treatments is
available in a form and in languages that everyone can understand, using new
information and communication technologies, with particular reference to
online health services;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">20. Calls on the Member States to
promote the introduction of telemedicine technologies, which can significantly
reduce geographical disparities in access to certain types of healthcare,
with particular reference to specialist care, in particular in border
regions;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">21. Calls on the Member States to
promote public policies aimed at ensuring healthy life conditions for all
infants, children and adolescents, including pre-conception care, maternal
care and measures to support parents and, more particularly, pregnant and
breast-feeding women, in order to ensure a healthy start to life for all
newborns and avoid further health inequalities, thereby recognising the
importance of investing in early child development and life course
approaches;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">22. Calls on the Member States to
ensure that all pregnant women and children, irrespective of their status,
are entitled to and actually receive social protection as defined in their
national legislation;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">23. Recalls the EU's obligation,
under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to
guarantee the right of persons with disabilities to the highest attainable
standard of health without discrimination on the grounds of disability;
insists that the inclusion of disability in all relevant health measurement
indicators is a key step towards meeting this obligation;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">24. Calls on the EU and the
Member States to include the health status of women and the question of
ageing (older women) as factors in gender mainstreaming and to use gender
budgeting in their health policies, programmes and research, from the
development and design stage through to impact assessment; calls on the
EU-funded framework research programmes and public funding agencies to
include a gender impact assessment in their policies and to provide for the
compilation and analysis of gender- and age-specific data with a view to
identifying key differences between women and men in relation to health, in
order to support policy change, and to introduce and collate epidemiological
tools to analyse the causes of the life-expectancy gap between men and women;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">25. Considers that the EU and the
Member States should guarantee women easy
access to methods of contraception and the right to safe abortion;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">26. Calls on the Commission to
provide the Member States with examples of good and best practices to
encourage more uniform access to fertility treatment;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">27. Urges the EU and the Member States to focus on women's human
rights, in particular by preventing, banning and prosecuting those guilty of
the forced sterilisation of women and female genital mutilation;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">28. Calls on the EU and the Member States to recognise male violence
against women as a public health issue, whatever form it takes;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">29. Calls on the EU and the
Member States to take the necessary measures, in relation to access to
assisted reproductive technologies (ART), to eliminate discrimination against
women on the grounds of marital status, sexual orientation or ethnic or
cultural origins;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">30. Calls on the Member States to
follow the World Health Organisation in recognising obesity as a chronic
disease and thus to provide access to obesity-prevention programmes and
guarantee access to treatment with proven evidence of a positive medical
outcome for persons suffering from obesity who require medical treatment,
also with a view to preventing the onset of further diseases;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">31. Calls on the EU and the
Member States to mainstream gender into tobacco control, as recommended by
the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and to introduce
anti-smoking campaigns targeting young girls and women;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">32. Calls on the Member States to
encourage and support medical and pharmaceutical research into illnesses that
primarily affect women, with reference to all phases of their lives and not
only their reproductive years;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">33. Calls on the Member States to
solve problems of inequality in access to healthcare that affect people's
everyday lives, for example in the areas of dentistry and ophthalmology;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">34. Suggests that the EU and the
Member States introduce coherent policies and supportive measures aimed at
women who do not work or who hold jobs in sectors where they are not covered
by personal health insurance and seek ways of providing such women with
insurance;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">35. Urges the Commission, in the
context of its collaboration with the competent authorities of the Member
States, to promote best practices on pricing and reimbursement of the cost of
medicines, including workable models for pharmaceutical price differentiation
so as to optimise affordability and reduce inequalities in access to
medicines;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">36. Recalls that the adoption of
a European patent, with appropriate language arrangements and a unified
dispute-settlement system, is crucial for the revitalisation of the European
economy;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">37. Notes that the work already
done in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection with
regard to product safety and advertising, among other subjects, has helped to
address certain aspects of health inequality in the EU, and, in that
connection, stresses the importance of closely monitoring the information
which pharmaceuticals firms provide to patients, particularly the most
vulnerable and least well-informed groups, and the need for an effective and
independent system of pharmacovigilance;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">38. Calls on the Member States to
adapt their health systems to the needs of the most disadvantaged by
developing methods for setting the fees charged by healthcare professionals
which guarantee access to care for all patients;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">39. Urges the Commission to do
its utmost to encourage Member States to offer reimbursements to patients and
to do everything necessary to reduce inequalities in access to medication for
the treatment of those conditions or illnesses, such as post-menopausal
osteoporosis and Alzheimer's Disease, which are not reimbursable in certain
Member States, and to do so as a matter of urgency;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">40. Emphasises that, in addition
to national governments, in many countries regional authorities play an
important role in public health, health promotion, disease prevention and the
provision of health services and thus need to be actively involved; points
out that regional and local governments and other stakeholders also have a
vital contribution to make, including within workplaces and schools; in
particular as regards health education, the promotion of healthy lifestyles, effective
disease prevention and early screening and diagnosis of diseases;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">41. Calls on the Member States to
support a ‘local care approach’ and to provide integrated
healthcare, accessible at local or regional level, enabling patients to be
better supported in their own local and social environment;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">42. Encourage all the Member
States to re-evaluate their policies on matters which have a significant
impact on health inequalities, such as tobacco, alcohol, food,
pharmaceuticals and public health and healthcare delivery;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">43. Encourages the Member States
to develop partnerships in border regions in order to share the cost of
infrastructure and personnel and reduce inequalities with regard to health,
particularly in respect of access to state-of-the-art equipment;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">44. Asks the Commission to study
the effects of decisions based on national and regional assessments of the
effectiveness of medicines and medical devices on the internal market,
including in terms of patient access, innovation in new products and medical
practices, which are some of the main elements affecting health equality;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">45. Considers that the
implementation of Directive 2011/24/EU on Patients' Rights in Cross-Border
Healthcare should be followed by impact assessments in order to measure as accurately
as possible its effectiveness in combating health inequalities and to ensure
that it maintains an adequate level of public protection and safeguards
patient safety, particularly in terms of the geographical allocation of
medical resources, both human and material;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">46. Notes that high-quality and
efficient cross-border healthcare calls for increased transparency of
information for the public, patients, regulators and healthcare providers on
a wide range of issues, including patients' rights, access to redress and the
regulation of healthcare professionals;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">47. Deplores the fact that the
directive on cross-border healthcare was not accompanied by a legislative
proposal on the mobility of healthcare professionals, taking into account the
risk of a ‘brain drain’ within the EU, which would dangerously
increase the geographical inequalities in certain Member States, and calls on
the Commission to remedy this failure, possibly in the context of the future
revision of the directive on professional qualifications (2005/36/EC);</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">48. Urges the Member States to
implement fully the existing Professional Qualifications Directive
(2005/36/EC); with regard to the complexity of medical qualifications,
encourages the Commission, in its evaluation and review of the directive, to
address some of the regulatory gaps that have the potential to leave patients
vulnerable to harm and compromise their right to safe treatment; invites the
Commission, further, to consider whether to make registration with the IMI
System mandatory for competent authorities and improve the extent to which
competent authorities can proactively share disciplinary information about
healthcare professionals by creating an appropriate alert mechanism;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">49. Urges the Commission, in its
forthcoming legislative proposal on professional qualifications, to move
towards a strengthened mechanism for the recognition of qualifications in the
Member States;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">50. Points out that increased
innovation often leads to greater accessibility of treatment, which is particularly
relevant for isolated or rural communities;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">51. Calls on the Commission to
foster, in conjunction with the Member States, the development of
telemedicine services as a means of reducing geographical disparities in
healthcare provision at both regional and local levels;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">52. Calls on the Council and the
Commission to give greater recognition within the Europe 2020 strategy to the
fact that physical and mental health and well-being are key to fighting
exclusion, to include comparative indicators stratified by socio-economic
status and the state of public health in the procedures for monitoring the
Europe 2020 strategy, and to take account of age-based discrimination, in
particular in relation to clinical trials for treatments better suited to the
needs of elderly people;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">53. Considers that the EU and the
Member States must support civil-society and women's organisations that
promote women's human rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights,
the right to a healthy lifestyle and the right to work, with a view to
ensuring that women have a voice on European and national health policy
issues;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">54. Encourages all the Member
States to foster and build capacity and international exchanges and
cooperation between all relevant multi-sectoral stakeholders in developing
and implementing policies that reduce health inequalities;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">55. Calls on the Member States to
support and implement a joined-up approach to policy-making at local,
regional and national level, thereby striving towards a Health in All Policies
Approach (HiAP);</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">56. Calls on the Commission and
the Member States to develop a common set of indicators to monitor health
inequalities by age, sex, socio-economic status and geographic location and
the risks resulting from alcoholism and drug addiction, and to establish a
methodology for auditing the health situation in Member States with the aim
of identifying and prioritising areas in need of improvement and best
practices;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">57. Stresses that health
inequalities are rooted in social inequalities in terms of living conditions
and models of social behaviour linked to gender, race, educational standards,
employment and the unequal distribution not only of income but also of
medical assistance, sickness prevention and health promotion services;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">58. Stresses that health risks to
members of disadvantaged (poorer) social categories are what is behind the
problem of health inequalities, bearing in mind that these risks are being
aggravated by a combination of poverty and other vulnerabilities;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">59. Calls on the Commission to
ensure that the tasks of reducing health inequalities and improving access to
physical and mental health services are fully addressed and integrated into
its current initiatives, such as the Partnership on Healthy and Active Ageing
and the EU Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion, and into future
initiatives on early childhood development and youth policies focusing on
education, training and employment;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">60. Calls for better coordination
between the EU agencies which have a major role to play in combating health
inequalities, in particular between the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, the European Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control and the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">61. Calls on the Commission to
assist Member States in making better use of the Open Method of Coordination
in order to support projects to address factors underlying health
inequalities;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">62. Calls on the Commission to
develop ways to engage and involve all the relevant stakeholders at European
level in promoting the uptake and dissemination of good practice in the
public health sphere;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">63. Draws attention to the
particular importance, among the various health determinants, of a varied,
high-quality diet, and, in that connection, urges the Commission to make
greater use of the effective programmes established under the CAP (free
distribution of milk and fruit in schools and of food to the most deprived
groups);</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">64. Calls on the Member States to
create a network of specific social, health and counselling services, with
dedicated telephone helplines, for women, couples and families, with the aim
of preventing domestic violence and providing qualified professional help and
support for those needing it, in cooperation with the other bodies in the
field;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">65. Calls on the Commission to
assist Member States in making better use of EU cohesion policy and
structural funds in order to support projects that contribute to addressing
the social determinants of health and reducing health inequalities; calls,
further, on the Commission to help Member States make better use of the
PROGRESS programme;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">66. Urges the Member States to
stop the current cuts in public spending on health services which play a
pivotal role in providing a high level of health protection for women and
men;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">67. Calls on the Commission to
mainstream an approach based on the economic and environmental determinants
of health and on ‘equity and health in all policies’ when
developing all internal and external EU policies, especially with a view to
achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and in particular good maternal
health;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">68. Urge all the Member States to
recognise the importance of health for society and to look beyond a GDP-based
approach when measuring societal, community and individual development;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">69. Calls on the Council to
promote efforts to tackle health inequalities as a policy priority in all
Member States, taking into account the social determinants of health and
lifestyle-related risk factors, such as alcohol, tobacco and nutrition, by
means of actions in policy areas such as consumer policy, employment,
housing, social policy, the environment, agriculture and food, education,
living and working conditions and research, in keeping with the ‘health
in all policies’ principle;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">70. Calls on the Commission to
support actions financed under the current and future Public Health Action
Plans to address the social determinants of health;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">71. Calls on the Commission to
draw up guidelines to improve the mechanisms to monitor inequalities in
health across the EU (between and within Member States) by enhancing data
collection by compiling more systematic and comparable information that
complements existing data on health inequalities and by means of regular
monitoring and analysis;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">72. Asks the Commission to
consider drafting a proposal for a Council recommendation, or any other
appropriate Community initiative, aimed at encouraging and supporting the development
by Member States of integrated national or regional strategies to reduce
health inequalities;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">73. Calls on the Commission to
assess, in its progress reports, the effectiveness of measures to reduce
health inequalities and improvements in health resulting from policies
relating to the social, economic and environmental determinants of health;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">74. Calls on the Commission to
apply the HiAP approach to EU-level policy-making and carry out effective
impact assessments that take health equity outcomes into account;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">75. Argues that open, competitive
and properly functioning markets can stimulate innovation, investment and
research in the healthcare sector, and recognises that this must be
accompanied by strong financial support for public research in order to
further develop sustainable and effective healthcare models and to promote
the development of new technologies and their applications in this field
(e.g. telemedicine), and by a common health technology assessment
methodology, all of which should benefit every individual, including those
from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, whilst taking into account the ageing
of the population;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">76. Calls on the Commission and
the Member States to support public information and awareness-raising
programmes and step up dialogue with civil society, the social partners and
NGOs regarding health and medical services;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">77. Regards it as essential to
increase the number of women involved in the development of healthcare
policies, programme planning and the provision of healthcare services;</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1" color="#666666" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666">78. Instructs its President to
forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.</span></font></p>
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