MEPs have called on the European Commission to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through the new Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe.
The European Commission’s Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe aims to ensure Europe’s supply of safe and affordable medicines in order to meet patients’ needs and support the pharmaceutical industry to remain innovative. Members of the MEP Interest Group on AMR have now written a letter to Vice-President Schinas and Commissioner Kyriakides welcoming the initiative and calling for the strategy to integrate the development of, and access to, affordable and quality antimicrobials.
The MEPs highlight that AMR is a key cross-border health issue for Europe, and that the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting European health, noting that ‘Without effective action, AMR will take us back to a pre-antibiotic age when death by infection was much more common’.
A three-month online public consultation on the strategy, which focuses on strategic autonomy and manufacturing of medicines, access to affordable medicines, innovation, and environmental sustainability and health challenges, was launched in June.
The Strategy aims to utilise the benefits of digitalisation and promote innovation in areas of unmet needs, such as antimicrobials, medicines for children, and medicines for rare diseases, as well as to reduce the EU’s dependency on imports from third-countries. The Strategy will also reduce the impact of medicines on the environment and tackle AMR.
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