Activities of Notis MARIAS related to 2016/2057(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Options for improving access to medicines (A8-0040/2017 - Soledad Cabezón Ruiz) EL
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the EU options for improving access to medicines
Amendments (39)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas protection of health is a fundamental right of all citizens enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital Α
Recital Α
Α. whereas guaranteeing universal access to medicines presents a myriad of challengesis an indefeasible right;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that Sustainable Development Goal 3, with nine quantitative and four qualitative targets, clearly states that by 2030 everyone should have access to good mental and physical health throughout their lives; underlines that, each year, 100 million people fall into poverty because of health costs which are disproportionate to their incomes, and that, according to the WHO, over one third of the world’s population, with over 50 % in Africa, does not have access to medicines; calls therefore for medicines forthwith to be treated as a public good rather than as commodities;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Recital Β
Recital Β
Β. whereas people living with disabilities are the most vulnerable and are in great need of medicines the most;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas EUthe public budgets of EU Member States such as Greece, including those covering health expenditure, are under significant constraints;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas ecompetition can lower costs, reduce expenditure on medicines and improve access to affordable medicinenomic freedom in the pharmaceuticals sector is undermining the fundamental right to health of all citizens;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the importance of observing the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality, as each Member State must address any shortcomings on the basis of its own particular requirements; points out that the financial adjustments arbitrarily imposed by the Troika in the Memorandum countries, especially Greece, are making it impossible to address these shortcomings since, as a result of health cuts, medicines are now in woefully short supply;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Deplores the fact that there are 18 million people without access to health care or medicines, whose human rights are being violated on a daily basis; finds it intensely alarming that there are 25 000 annual deaths in the EU due to lack of effective antibiotics;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Voices its regret that the economic crisis and memorandum requirements in Greece, have led to drastic cuts in public spending on health care, including medical services and medicines;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recognises as key obstacles to access to medicines the lack of affordability and availability of medicines, the budgetary cuts resulting from the financial crisis, the fiscal adjustment programmes, the high price of medicines and the monopolies of large companies in the market;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Urges not to use free trade agreements with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to introduce TRIPS- plus intellectual property (IP) rules that extend monopoly protection, and not to introduce new IP enforcement rules or investment protection to the detriment of access to medicines, in particular for the most economically vulnerable categories of consumers;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the fact that the WTO TRIPS Agreement provides flexibilities to patent rights, such as compulsory licensing, which have proved to be a major tool in bringing prices to reasonable levels;(Does not apply to English version)
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for support for the progress achieved by the pharmaceutical industry, hitherto driven by European SMEs, which have transformed the standard of healthcare in Europe and helped to prolong life expectancy by increasing EU funding for health services in the Member States;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Α
Recital Α
A. whereas the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union recognises the fundamental right of citizens to health and medical treatment2, which every EU Member State must protect; __________________ 2 The right to health care is the economic, social and cultural right to a universal minimum standard of health care to which all individuals are entitled.
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. ConsiderStresses that exclusive protection periods granted to pharmaceuticals through patents or other mechanisms hinder competition, lead to high prices and negatively impact access to needed medicines;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Highlights the negative impact of Member States’the austerity policies inflicted on the Member States and stresses that budgetary cuts should not prevent any EU citizen from being able to access medicines;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recommends that each Member State should be free to set its own innovation policy in the field of cutting- edge technologies, possibly with the aid of by stepping up EU funding;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Underlines the adverse impact of the policy adopted by the Troika seeking to change the Greek health service;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls that the Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry Report adopted by the Commission in 2009 showed that manufacturers of medicines have developed abusive strategies in connection with patent claims in order to hinder market entry of generic medicines, which should be avoided;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that, without transparency of research and development costs to originator companies and information on the actual prices paid for medicines across the EU, any discussion on fair medicine prices remains impossible; recalls the Commission’s commitment to greacondemns any attempt to completer transparency of EU positions, specific legal proposals, and negotiating texts in the TTIP negotiationshe opaque TTIP negotiations, in particular regarding the pharmaceuticals sector;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recognises the launch of the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines as a global response to the need tostep towards addressing multifaceted issues in a holistic way;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Identifies patent rights as a major obstacle to access to medicines, and urges public policy makers to take proactive steps towards making generic and biosimilar medicines available, always taking into account the need to ensure the same beneficial effects, continuity of patient care and prevention of any risk of abuse or misuse of the regulatory framework;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges thatCalls for universal access to medicines should not be contingent on price, which should reflect a fair balance between the cost ofand increased funding for investment in research, industry growth and the need for sustainable welfare systems;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the prices of new medicines have increased during the past few decades to the point of being unaffordable for many European citizens and particularly for citizens of the countries of southern Europe, such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Reiterates that the stability of Europeanthe welfare systems, which are one of the cornerstones of EU cooperation and whose budgets differ greatly from one Member State to another, is contingent on people being in employment, and that high levels of unemployment are making the very high levels of unemployment in the Member States of southern Europe, such as Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain, are a reflection of the social inequalit iessential to find new means of funding welfare that exist within the Union;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Member States to grant patents only on health products that strictly fulfil the patentability requirements of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability as enshrined in the European Patent Convention;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas in addition to high prices, other barriers to access to medicines include shortages of essential medicines, the poor connection between clinical needs and research, unjustified administrative procedures, rigid patent rules, inadequate funding by the EU for the health systems of its Member States and budget restrictions;
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Member States to establish a pooled public platform for R&D financed by all states via a contribution of 0.01 % of their GDP.
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the Commission has had to introduce incentives to promote research in areas such as rare diseases, and whereasdeploring the fact that 25 000 people die each year in the EU owing to lack of access to adequate antimicrobial drugs;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Regrets that the research priorities of the pharmaceutical industry are profit- oriented rather than patient-oriented and condemns the EU’s position in having turned medicine from a public good into a commodity;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that the high level of public funds used for R&D is not reflected in the pricing;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. DeploreCondemns the large number of litigation cases aiming to delay generic entry;
Amendment 335 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes initiatives such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), but regretsdeplores the fact that only a few of them are entirely public;
Amendment 367 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for EU-wide measures to guarantee the right of patients to universal, affordable, effective, safe and timely access to essential and innovative therapies, and to guarantee the sustainability of EU public health care systems, and also for funding by the Union for investment in research and for the improvement of the health systems of its Member States;
Amendment 509 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote major publicly funded investment in research based on medical needs, and to introduce conditional funding based on affordable end pricing and non-exclusive licencing; at the same time, given that the violent economic adjustment imposed by the EU does not permit each Member State to tackle the deficits observed in the health system, considers that the Union should take immediate steps to cover these deficits;
Amendment 548 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission and the Council to explore new improved measures to control prices, such as horizontal scanning and coordinating joint procurements;
Amendment 598 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Calls on the Commission to analyse the causes of shortages, to establish a list of essential medicines and monitor compliance with Article 81 of Directive 2001/83/EU on shortages of supply, and to take action to deal with these shortages and to promote the supply of generics;