At the informal ministerial meeting in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, EU health ministers committed to boosting the European Health Union, the aim of which is to tackle future crises and the health care of the European population in a more unified and integrated way.

At the informal ministerial meeting in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, EU health ministers committed to boosting the European Health Union, the aim of which is to tackle future crises and the health care of the European population in a more unified and integrated way.

Gathered by the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU in the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, representatives of the EU-27 discussed the challenges facing the EU’s healthcare system.

At a press conference, acting Spanish Minister for Health José Manuel Miñones and the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, emphasised the consensus reached between all the member states to promote coordination and move forward in the face of future challenges.

“The COVID-19 crisis has taught us many lessons.

The most important thing is unity of action,” Miñones recalled. To this effect, the acting minister highlighted the fact that “the ministers have committed to cooperating in the idea of building this European Union of health, expanding the culture of prevention and promotion and strengthening the capacities of health systems”.

The digitalisation of healthcare, open strategic autonomy against health alerts, the prevention, treatment and monitoring of the most prevalent diseases in Europe, and mental health care are crucial aspects of this health strategy on which all countries are working together.

Digitalising healthcare to improve care

The digitalisation of healthcare is one of the great challenges for the Spanish presidency. Health officials agree that the rights of individuals over their health data must be protected, and that the ethical use of this information must be ensured.

As Miñones pointed out, digital technologies have the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in EU health management and to improve healthcare for citizens, referring to the fact that managing health data on a large scale will enable the development of new services and products for the prevention and treatment of diseases.

The COVID-19 crisis has taught us many lessons. The most important thing is unity of action José Manuel Miñones, acting Minister for Health The commissioner also stressed that the proposed European data space aims to bring the benefits of e-health and telemedicine to all EU citizens.

“It will give citizens greater access to and control over their health data. It will allow doctors to access their patients’ health globally, even across borders when a citizen travels, and it will allow for better health care”, Miñones highlighted.

Consensus on boosting mental health

The Spanish presidency has found support for its initiative to boost mental health care in Europe. During the meeting, During the meeting, progress was presented and the proposals recently presented by the European Commission were analysed. Ministers concluded that mental health care and the fight against the associated stigma is a priority in Europe.

“We agreed that we have to work on changing the perception of mental illness and stigma”, the minister highlighted in reference to one of the problems exacerbated by circumstances such as the crisis caused by COVID-19, the increase in the cost of living and the consequences of the war caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

“Mental health is a matter of political will, because if we don’t act now it will be too late”, said Miñones.

Health officials agreed on the need to generate new mechanisms to protect the most vulnerable groups, as well as the importance of developing support tools. “We have to be clear that having mental health issues is not a problem”,said the European Commissioner, who called for health to be approached as the sum of physical and mental well-being.

Increasing the production of medicines in the EU

The COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted the importance of having solid, EU-based supply chains that enable member states to have access to strategic medicines and health products, and reduce dependence on third countries. Strengthening EU autonomy in key sectors such as energy and health is addressed in the open strategic autonomy (OSA) plan.

The Spanish presidency is finalising the draft to be presented in October, which will seek an agreement to ensure that the supply chains of medicines are diversified and secure so that Europe can meet its own needs, explained the acting minister for health.

He also stressed that the reform package aims for a single market for medicines wherein all citizens and patients, wherever they live in the EU, have access to the medicines they need. The aim is to reduce medicine shortages and to ensure that health products are available to all European citizens.