Last updated: 20 June 2007

President’s Message

Dear EFN Members and Colleagues,


The consultation carried out by DG SANCO regarding Community Action on Health Services yielded 275 responses of which more than half were from health professionals, which is most encouraging. The European Commissioner Markos Kyprianou has indicated that he is determined to speed up the process, not just the communication but the draft text to be submitted to the Council of Ministers (on 5th and 6th December) under the Portuguese Presidency. That means that the inter-service consultations will have to get underway this summer or in September at the latest to ensure adoption by the Commission in November. It is imperative that EFN and NNAs continue to influence this debate and it remains a priority for EFN over the coming months.

 Annette Kennedy
 EFN President

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20 June 2007


News from the EFN

Working Party on Health Systems

The EFN General Secretary participated in the 8th Meeting of the Working Party on Health Systems on 11-12 June 2007 in Luxembourg, where important issues were debated, such as: current and future work on the High Level Group on Health Services and Medical Care; patient safety working group; Health Strategy and Health Services Initiative; Consultation on Health Information; Public consultation on health-related information to patients; the role of the HSWP in the field of eHealth; Improving the efficiency of delivery of health services; and Improving the quality of health care.

Update

European Cancer Strategy

The European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN) is supporting “Cancer United”, a pan-European campaign for a European cancer strategy driven by a coalition of patients, patient groups, doctors, nurses, researchers, industry, policy makers and major institutions involved in cancer research and care, which aims to ensure equal access to quality cancer care for all patients across Europe.

To support this initiative, please sign the Call for Action.

Update

News from the EU

European Commission consultation on Health Strategy

The European Commission published a report which summarise all the contributions to the consultation process on ‘Health in Europe: A Strategic Approach - Discussion Document for a Health Strategy’. According to the report, many stakeholders have highlighted the need to design an EU strategy that would respond to challenges while respecting the competencies of the Member States, and that the Health Strategy should focus on issues with cross-border aspects and those that had clear European added value. The European Commission should adopt a new Health Strategy later in 2007, which will set broad objectives for health for the next decade, promote health across all policies and tackle global health issues.

To read the report and all the contributions, click here.

Update

EU Consultation on Community Action on Health Services

The European Commission published all the contributions received regarding the Consultation on Community Action on Health Services. Although most EFN input has been taken into account, such as collecting comparable data and indicators; and support for health investment through the structural funds, EFN major concern about workforce planning and a patients’ Ombudsman are not reflected into the final report.

To view all the contributions, click here.

Update

Action for Health Equity

On 8 May 2007 took place the final European Conference entitled “Action for Health Equity” of the European Commission-sponsored project 'Closing the Gap: Strategies for Action to Tackle Health Inequalities in Europe', to discuss and exchange strategies and good practices about health inequalities in Europe. The main aims of the conference were to generate support for addressing health inequalities; to highlight what is being done at the local, national and EU level; to discuss strategic initiatives to tackle health inequalities from across the EU partner countries; to involve other policy sectors in achieving this goal; and to endorse a Declaration on tackling health inequalities in the EU that can be used as a political tool at all levels to stimulate further action.

To read the publication “Taking Action on Health Equity”, click here.

Update