Sailing into the wind: the EU’s role in improving patient access to medicines
Sailing into the wind: the EU’s role in improving patient access to medicines
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) would like to invite you to an online consumer debate about how the EU should improve access to medicines on 1 October 2024 from 15:00 to 16:30 CEST.
Consumers across the EU continue to face growing challenges to access the medicines they need. Medicine shortages are common across countries and high prices for new treatments push health budgets to the limit. Bacterial resistance to widely taken antibiotics is driving a need to develop new antibiotics, but the market is not delivering on this need. Member States are battling these issues with greater frequency but cannot solve them on their own. There is space for the EU to do more to improve the situation.
As the EU institutional landscape prepares for a new mandate, BEUC is organising a discussion to identify which actions need to be prioritised to improve consumer access to medicines around the four key themes:
- Medicine shortages
- Medicine affordability
- Antibiotic development
- Crisis preparedness and response
When: Tuesday 1 October, 15:00-16:30 CEST
Format: Online
Programme:
15:00-15:05 Welcome remarks, Agustín Reyna, Director General, BEUC
15:05-15:20 Presentation: ‘The consumer reality check’, Julie Frère, Head of Communication and Public Affairs, Testachats
15:20-16:25 Discussion facilitated by Agustín Reyna, Director General, BEUC, with:
Liana Petrosova - Regulatory Policy Manager, Medicines for Europe
César Hernández García, Director General of Common Portfolio of the NHS and Pharmacy, Spanish Ministry of Health
Rohit Malpani, Senior Advisor, The Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP)
Csaba Gáli, Deputy Head of Unit, European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, European Commission
Includes Q&A with the audience
16:25-16:30 Wrap-up, Agustín Reyna, Director General, BEUC