2018/2774(RSP) | [ParlTrack]

Citation 1 a (new)

- having regard to Article 168(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, under which responsibility for the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care lies with the Member States;

Amendment 10 #

Recital F b (new)

Fb. whereas this is not enough, however, because many doctors are unable to make a relevant diagnosis owing to the wide variety of possible symptoms, the best known being erythema migrans – an annular rash around the bite area – joint pain and fatigue, which can lead to misdiagnosis as a result of confusion with lupus, viral infections, multiple sclerosis or fibromyalgia.

Amendment 11 #

Luke Ming FLANAGAN

Recital H

H. whereas many patients do not have access to the treatments that would suit them, nor are they promptly or properly diagnosed; whereas they feel deprived and ~~unheard of~~ignored by public authorities and that some of them continue to have persistent symptoms that can lead to chronic disease, Ireland a case in point at the moment where some Lyme disease patients are forced abroad for treatment, for which they themselves must pay;

Amendment 12 #

Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas Lyme disease is inextricably bound to rural regions and the countryside and these areas face social, economic and medical disadvantages in comparison with urban areas;

Amendment 13 #

Recital J

J. whereas the burden of Lyme borreliosis in the EU is unknown due to the lack of statistics of this disease and heterogeneity of applied case definitions, laboratory methods used and surveillance systems;

Amendment 14 #

Recital J a (new)

Ja. whereas the Commission has stated, in Mr Andriukaitis's answer to written question E-002453/2017 of 2 June 2017, that it does not intend to launch a large-scale enquiry into Lyme disease and the issue of cross border movement of patients to receive treatment;

Amendment 15 #

Recital J b (new)

Jb. whereas the Commission has stated that it does not systematically collect information on the screening methods or on treatments administered in the Member States;

Amendment 16 #

Recital O

O. whereas Lyme disease, although well known in medical science, is still underdiagnosed, in particular because of the difficulties existing in the detection of symptoms and the absence of appropriate diagnostic tests;

Amendment 17 #

Recital O a (new)

Oa. whereas Lyme disease remains very difficult to diagnose given that the infection does not manifest itself until 7 to 14 days after the tick bite, the skin reaction around the bite eventually disappears and a wide variety of symptoms may appear, thus making it difficult to establish a link with Lyme disease;

Amendment 18 #

Recital P a (new)

Pa. whereas a number of serological tests have been strongly criticised for their unreliability, with some subjects suffering from often highly debilitating symptoms declared negative, and thus find themselves misdiagnosed and deprived of the antibiotic treatments needed to combat the disease; whereas numerous complaints have also been lodged against the manufacturers of diagnostic tests and that some doctors have been criticised for offering unconventional tests and treatments;

Amendment 19 #

Recital P a (new)

P a. whereas many Europeans are continuously exposed to Lyme borreoliosis through their profession (farmers, forestry workers, researchers and students carrying out field research - e.g. biologists, geologists, surveyors and archaeologists, etc.);

Amendment 2 #

Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas Lyme disease (Borreliosis) is an infectious disease in humans and in various species of domestic and wild animals transmitted by ticks;

Amendment 20 #

Recital Q a (new)

Qa. whereas since 2007 the EU has contributed a total of EUR 33.9 million to Lyme disease research and the European Investment Bank has recently granted a EUR 25 million loan for the development of a vaccine against Lyme disease;

Amendment 21 #

Monika BEŇOVÁ

Paragraph 3

3. Welcomes the funding allocated until to now by the Union for the search for early detection and future treatment of Lyme borreliosis (up to 16 million euros through projects such as ANTIDotE, ID- LYME and LYMEDIADEX);

Amendment 22 #

Paragraph 6

6. Encourages the Commission to collect the largest number of information on thLyme disease screening methods or on treatments administered in the Member States;

Amendment 23 #

Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Calls for mandatory reporting in all Member States affected by Lyme disease;

Amendment 24 #

Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Welcomes the inclusion by certain Member States of Lyme disease in their national surveillance system based on a specific methodology;

Amendment 25 #

Paragraph 8

8. Calls on the Commission to put in place uniform surveillance programmes and work together with the Member States to facilitate the standardisation of diagnosis tests and treatments; calls on the Commission to recognise borreoliosis as an occupational disease for agricultural and forestry workers, as well as for field scientists (e.g. biologists, geologists, surveyors and archaeologists, etc.);

Amendment 26 #

Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Calls for individual tick prevention and control measures in the Member States to contain the spread of the Borrelia bacteria;

Amendment 27 #

Paragraph 10 a (new)

10a. Encourages the Commission to publish guidelines on the reliability of serological tests and unconventional treatments for Lyme disease;

Amendment 28 #

Paragraph 12

12. Calls on the Commission to assess the magnitude of the phenomenon of patients looking for appropriate diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease for a long time which some patients face, and in particular the transboundary movements of patients seeking treatment and financial consequences thereof;

Amendment 29 #

Paragraph 13

13. Urges the planning and creation of innovative projects that can contribute to improved data gathering and greater effectiveness of education and awareness raising activities;

Amendment 3 #

Daciana Octavia SÂRBU, Nicola CAPUTO

Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the training of general practitioners in particular falls within the competence of the Member States;

Amendment 30 #

Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Welcomes the European Commission implementing decision on the communicable diseases and related special health issues to be covered by epidemiological surveillance as well as relevant definitions, that includes the Lyme neuroborreliosis in the communicable diseases list.

Amendment 31 #

Daciana Octavia SÂRBU

Paragraph 15

15. Emphasises that the addition of Lyme disease to the European epidemiological surveillance network ~~will~~is enableing patients to benefit from the advantages of a robust and structured health system: permanent communication between competent national authorities, rapid and reliable identification of cases of Borreliosis Lyme in the Union, mutual assistance in the field of analysis and interpretation of surveillance data collected and deployment of devices necessary to stop its spread in humans;

Amendment 32 #

Paragraph 16

16. Invites the Member States, which will be able to rely on the Commission's logistical support, to set up an awareness campaign on the disease, first and foremost in the regions most affected by its spread, and to maintain in rural areas a level of public services (especially health care) equivalent to that in urban areas so as to ensure social equity in treating this disease;

Amendment 33 #

Paragraph 16

16. Invites the Member States, which will be able to rely on the Commission's logistical support, to set up an information and awareness campaign ~~on th~~to alert the population and all those concerned to the existence of Lyme disease, first and foremost in the regions most affected by its spread;

Amendment 34 #

Paragraph 16 a (new)

16a. Calls on the Commission to promote public awareness-raising campaigns on the risks of contracting Lyme disease following tick bites and in particular of the fact that the infection manifests itself some time after a tick bite and with a wide variety of symptoms;

Amendment 35 #

Paragraph 18

18. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to publish common prevention guidelines for those who have a high risk of getting Lyme Disease, such as outdoors workers, and standardised diagnostic and treatment guidelines. calls on the Commission and the Member States to have Lyme disease recognised as an occupational disease when contracted as part of a high-risk occupation, farming, foresting or hunting for example;

Amendment 36 #

Paragraph 18 a (new)

18a. Calls on the Commission to introduce preventive tests and a method for rapidly treating and monitoring the course of Lyme borreoliosis infections among professionals in the agroforestry sector and scientists involved in gathering field data;

Amendment 37 #

Paragraph 18 a (new)

18a. Invites the Commission to assess the extent of the phenomenon of misdiagnosis affecting certain patients and in particular the cross-border movement of patients seeking treatment;

Amendment 38 #

Paragraph 18 a (new)

18 a. Recommends that the Commission promote research and awareness with a view to the prevention of Lyme disease;

Amendment 39 #

Paragraph 18 b (new)

18b. Calls on the Commission to inform the Member States in full transparency of the scientific outcome of the many millions invested in research into Lyme disease and the development of a vaccine against it;

Amendment 4 #

Recital C

C. whereas Lyme borreoliosis is the most common zoonotic disease in Europe with 650-850.000 estimated cases with a higher incidence in Central Europe; whereas infection occurs in the spring- summer semester (IV-X), and borreoliosis is recognised in those countries as an occupational disease for farmers, forestry workers and field researchers;

Amendment 40 #

Paragraph 18 b (new)

18 b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to research the increase of the tick population and the elimination of tick population by environmentally friendly means;

Amendment 41 #

Paragraph 18 c (new)

18 c. Recognises that the rise in number of persons affected with Lyme disease is as a consequence of climate change, due to migrating ticks.

Amendment 42 #

Paragraph 18 d (new)

18 d. Urges Member States to cooperate with each other with a view to prevention, through exchange of information, knowledge and best practice.

Amendment 5 #

Recital D

D. whereas infected ticks and the disease seem to be expanding geographically, also in higher altitudes and latitudes;, as well as in towns and cities; whereas this is suspected to be caused by, among other things, changes in land use, inter alia through the afforestation of land of the lowest quality or through the expansion of invasive plants, climate change, and other activities related to human behaviour;

Amendment 6 #

Recital D

D. whereas infected ticks and the disease seem to be expanding geographically, also in higher altitudes and latitudes; suspected to be caused by, among other things, changes in land use, climate change, and other activities related to human behaviour, in particular intensive agricultural production coupled with the widespread use of chemical inputs;

Amendment 7 #

Recital D

D. whereas infected ticks and the disease seem to be expanding geographically, also in higher altitudes and latitudes; suspected to be caused by, among other things, changes in land use, climate change, global warming, excessive humidity and other activities related to human behaviour;

Amendment 8 #

Luke Ming FLANAGAN

Recital E

E. whereas to the detriment of its citizens, there is no European consensus on Lyme disease treatment, diagnosis and screening and national practices vary;

Amendment 9 #