Activities of Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA related to 2016/2057(INI)
Shadow opinions (2)
OPINION on the EU options for improving access to medicines
OPINION on EU options for improving access to medicines
Amendments (14)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Believes that the opinions of European citizens voiced by petitioning the European Parliament are fundamentally important in signalling to the European legislator issues that citizens feel concerned about, particularly inadequate distribution of medicines, the impact of the economic crisis on medical and pharmaceutical care, and issues regarding marketing procedures and patents for medicinal products, as well as their high cost;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point 1 (new)
Paragraph 1 – point 1 (new)
(1) Calls on the Commission to make specific policy proposals and changes to EU legislation on intellectual policy in order to step up EU competitiveness in regard to medicines through EU- manufactured or imported generic, affordable versions thereof;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point 2 (new)
Paragraph 1 – point 2 (new)
(2) Insists on the need for greater transparency concerning the cost of investment in pharmaceutical research, development and innovation, so as to know how much public money is invested in each research project and ensure that in the last analysis the public does not pay twice for the same product; urges the adoption of the measures needed to arrive at a model that will guarantee a return on this investment for public health services;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point 3 (new)
Paragraph 1 – point 3 (new)
(3) Highlights the importance of establishing alternative formulas to make it easier to obtain certain medicines; considers that an EU central purchasing body for medicines needs to be set up so as to obtain more competitive prices by profiting from the advantages offered by economies of scale;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point 4 (new)
Paragraph 1 – point 4 (new)
(4) Calls for the adoption of EU standards for public transparency as regards the prices involved in the public procurement of medicines;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point 5 (new)
Paragraph 1 – point 5 (new)
(5) Calls for an incentive to be provided under the Horizon 2020 programme to produce certain medicines that can be placed on the EU market as generic medicines at a price affordable for the majority of European patients under a socially responsible intellectual property licence;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes that Article 25 of the UDHR recognises the right of every person to a 'standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family', and that the World Health Organisation (WHO) constitution states that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Is of the view that the accomplishment of effective medicine provision in developing countries is still an unresolved challenge; considers that lifesaving medicines aren't just another consumer good, and thus, should not be regulated as such;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Observes that the EU’s current biomedical R&D system based on IP monopolies has proved a failure to deliver accessibility for life saving medicines in the developing world, and that the EU has not received sufficient return on its public investment in biomedical R&D with regards to the property on the outcome of research;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Calls to restructure our biomedical R&D system in order for it to be capable of developing efficient access to medicines policies, within the framework of the EU's development policy, capable of effectively delivering lifesaving drugs to millions in the developing world which are currently excluded from access;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Reminds that the Least Developed Countries are the most affected by poverty-related diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, diseases of the reproductive organs and infectious and skin diseases;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1f. Considers that the lack of access to health is the result of both a problem of access to care (owing to a shortage of facilities and health workers but also to the lack of public healthcare systems) and access to treatment;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the European Union to support developing countries which use the so-called flexibilities built into the TRIPS Agreement in order to be able to provide essential medicines at affordable prices under their domestic public health programs;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the European Commission to include the most neglected diseases among its priorities and to ensure that effective, appropriate, easy-to-use medicines are developed and placed on the market in the developing countries at an affordable price;