MEP Peter Liese (CDU) and member of the European People’s Party (EPP) was recently the initiator of a virtual debate in a webinar attended by various EU politicians on how to secure the supply of medicines in the EU. Questions about the cost and distribution of medicines and medical devices were therefore high on the agenda of the online discussion, which was also attended by World Medical Association President Frank-Ulrich Montgomery, who is also considering how to supply 440 million people in the EU with corona drugs and vaccine doses. By 2019, there were already 18 million drug packages in Germany alone that were affected by supply bottlenecks. That is why a European solution is needed. All participants in the virtual round were sure that this would guarantee the supply of medicines within Europe. The video message from Stella Kyriakides, EU Health Commissioner, for example, was to find a European solution without falling into old patterns that only take individual states into account. The State Secretary of the BMG, Thomas Steffen, therefore named four options on which work would have to be done in the future, including at further meetings: the design of transparent drug production is part of this, as is improving the quality of drugs through inspections, but also a search for strategies for alternative supply chains and, finally, the creation of financial incentives for production in Europe so that drug production is not threatened by new supply bottlenecks. Another representative of the online discussion raised the problem that European production would bring safety to people with rare diseases, but would also increase production costs, which in turn would make drugs more expensive. However, Liese is sure that a willingness to invest in Europe as a production site is always better than sitting around doing nothing. The next video conference will take place on 16 July, initiated by Federal Minister of Health Spahn, and will include debates on the European Health Data Area.
