20 Amendments of Jean-François JALKH related to 2017/2576(RSP)
Amendment 13 #
Citation 12 a (new)
- having regard to the WHO Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health 2016-2030;
Amendment 14 #
Citation 12 b (new)
- having regard to the WHO Global Health Sector Strategy on Sexually Transmitted Infections 2016-2021;
Amendment 27 #
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas, while the incidence of HIV is increasing in the risk categories defined by the World Health Organisation, the general population of the European Union is being affected significantly by the growing incidence of sexually transmitted infections, 357 million persons being infected annually throughout the world by one of the four main treatable sexually transmitted diseases defined by the World Health Organisation; whereas , in addition, 18 % of women and 13 % of men in Western Europe are infected with the HSV-2 virus;
Amendment 29 #
Recital K b (new)
Kb. whereas this higher incidence of sexually transmitted infections in the EU poses a major threat to public health due to the resulting complications, especially with regard to reproductive health and, in addition, such diseases place those affected at greater risk of HIV infection;
Amendment 32 #
Recital K c (new)
Kc. whereas, for all the above reasons, measures to combat sexually transmitted infections are just as essential as those to combat HIV; whereas European and national programmes should be updated accordingly, particularly in the light of the recommendations of the World Health Organisation;
Amendment 37 #
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission to publish a conclusive study on the prevalence of the three diseases in question among migrants;
Amendment 45 #
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that HIV remains the communicable disease carrying greatest social stigma which can impact gravely individual’s quality of life, despite the significant improvement in antiretroviral treatment and additional care intended to alleviate the adverse side effects of antiretroviral treatment, for example, and that almost 30 000 newly diagnosed HIV infections were reported by the 31 EU/EEA countries in 2015, with no clear signs of an overall decrease;
Amendment 47 #
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses that awareness campaigns designed to remove the social stigma suffered by HIV carriers should not in any way negate or detract from their moral, ethical and possibly legal responsibility to ensure that third parties are informed of the theoretical risk of HIV infection and protected against it, especially those engaged in sexual relations, but also certain health- care professionals providing medical services possibly exposing them to this theoretical risk;
Amendment 48 #
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Stresses that HIV continues to be a chronic disease not definitively curable by any treatment apart from antiretroviral treatment, with possibly major side- effects; observes that, in addition, positive HIV screening may, for all the above reasons, have a great psychological impact on the individual concerned and that, as a result, intentional exposure of others to the risk of HIV infection and failure of the carrier to inform them in advance may, under the national law of the Member State concerned, constitute a criminal offence;
Amendment 52 #
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses the fact that for social as well as physiological reasons, women are particularly at risk from sexually transmitted infections, as well as making up a growing proportion of those newly infected with HIV, especially in Sub- Saharan Africa, where twice as many young women as men in the same age group are infected with HIV;
Amendment 53 #
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Stresses that women are frequently forced or induced to accept sexual relations placing them at risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, especially where no suitable precautions are taken; observes that policies seeking the empowerment of women should also address sexual health by raising awareness among women regarding the heightened risk of sexually transmitted diseases and infections, including HIV;
Amendment 55 #
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses that prevention should focus on dangerous sexual and other practices ;
Amendment 56 #
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Underlines, in this regard, that the forms of prophylaxis generally presented quite rightly as providing reliable protection against HIV infection may not provide reliable protection against other sexually transmitted infections such as HPV or HSV-2 and that for that reason a comprehensive prevention programme necessarily entails general sexual health awareness;
Amendment 62 #
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Stresses that the generalised HIV screening carried out in most Member States in recent years is not necessarily effective, given that the incidence of HIV in the EU is much higher regarding the categories of those at risk defined by the World Health Organisation and can therefore result in disproportionate costs to the health systems of the Member States with no significant increase in positive screening rates;
Amendment 63 #
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Stresses that the early diagnosis of HIV must remain a key objective but that it is necessarily limited by the window period of the virus, during which the antibodies reach detectable levels, which may be up to six weeks or even three months and that during the primary infection period, the viral load is particularly great, resulting in a particularly high risk of contamination;
Amendment 64 #
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13c. Stresses that the medical practitioners board must continue to be the final arbiter regarding the conduct of screening tests, including those carried out for the early diagnosis of infection, such as 'PCR' tests, which can be costly for Member States’ health systems;
Amendment 65 #
Paragraph 13 d (new)
13d. Points out that, while certain tools, such as 'home' HIV screening tests, are useful, the advice and follow-up of medical professionals are still crucial for the HIV testing, in the light of not only their scientific knowledge of matters such as the window period but also their ability to to accompany the individual concerned, given the potentially major psychological impact of positive HIV screening ;
Amendment 66 #
Paragraph 13 e (new)
13e. Stresses that the opinion of a medical practitioner must be the determining factor for the conduct of certain screening tests, including 'PCR' screening tests or post-exposure prophylaxis, which may also delay subsequent HIV identification and diagnosis;
Amendment 67 #
Paragraph 13 f (new)
13f. Stresses that a medical practitioner must be able to refuse to conduct a screening test in certain cases, particularly if the applicant has not been exposed to an established risk of contamination or has already undergone a number of screening tests with consistent results and in accordance with the current health authority recommendations regarding the window period;
Amendment 71 #
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the Member States to consider extending vaccination coverage to tuberculosis, for example through the reintroduction of compulsory vaccination;