Petition to the European Parliament “For a European Plan for against Hepatitis C” presented by “Plataforma de Afectados por la Hepatitis C”(Spain)
Mario Cortes Morales, Spanish citizen, in representation of the “Plataforma de afectados por la Hepatitis C” (Platform of people affected by hepatitis C), presents this petition before the European Parliament.
Taking note of written declaration 87/2006 presented by MEPs Jolanta Dickute, John Bowis, Stephen Hughes, Frederique Ries and Thomas Ulmer concerning the need of the EU to combat Hepatitis C and to help provide treatment for those affected, which was approved by the majority of the European Parliament and was published in “Approved Texts” of the session 29.03.2007,
Considering that according to estimations over nine million citizens and residents in the EU are affected by hepatitis C and that every year there are thousands of deaths due to this illness,
Taking into account that the European Union does not have direct competences for the financing of public health nor the setting of medicine prices but considering that the EU does coordinate a voluntary system of EU member states that establishes reference prices for medicines and that other EU competences do affect drug prices of Hepatitis C treatments.
Considering that the European Union has legal competences over intellectual property policies, international trade, scientific research and innovation, the public debt of EU member states, the approval of new medicines, the internal market, clinical trial and price transparency, public procurement law and competition rules, among other norms that affect the price and access to Hepatitis C medicines,
And considering that access to health-care and the right to life are two fundamental rights defended by the European Union,
Requests the presentation of a European Plan against Hepatitis C that includes the coordination on the part of the European Commission of policies of joint procurement of affordable Hepatitis C treatments among EU member states.
Demands that the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament present concrete policy proposals and flexible changes in EU legislation concerning intellectual property with the objective of encouraging the rapid entry into the european market, either from European production or importation, of affordable generic versions of the most effective and safe therapies for all EU citizens and residents affected by Hepatitis C.
Requests the creation of an EU emergency health-care rescue fund for people affected by Hepatitis C en EU member states affected by public spending austerity measures mandated by the EU and askes the European Commission to carry out a health impact evaluation of health-care cutbacks with special reference to their impact on Hepatitis C patients.
Asks the European Commission to carry out a study and to collect public-health data concerning the prevalence of Hepatitis C in the EU.
Requests the adoption of legal EU norms for the public transparency of the prices paid for medicines in the public procurement of medicines.
Demands that the European Commission opens up an investigation of the possible violation of EU competition law and public procurement law in the marketing and purchasing of high-priced new medicines for treatment of Hepatitis C.
Asks the European Commission to finance econometric studies on the possible future scenarios concerning the economic and health system viability of the erradication of Hepatitis C in the European Union.
Requests that the European Commission adopts a series of recommendations of best practices for EU member states and the European health-care community for the treatment and cure of Hepatitis C.
Asks the European Commission and the Council of Member States to propose a series of measures in the areas of research, financing and best practices to guarantee the early detection and diagnosis of Hepatitis C.
Requests that the Horizon 2020 programme includes an innovation inducement prize for the production of a single-dose treatment for Hepatitis C that could enter the EU market as a generic medicine at an affordable price for the large majority of European patients by means of a non-exclusive, socially responsible intellectual property license.
Asks that all research studies financed by the Horizon 2020 programme related to Hepatitis C be guided by the rules mandated by the pilot programmes for “open data”.
Bruselas, 21 de enero de 2015