European agreements with pharma can push development and production, says Belgian MEP Vautmans [Advocacy Lab Content]

A staunch advocate for the European Health Union, Belgium’s Hilde Vautmans begins her third MEP mandate with a renewed focus on healthcare equal access, preventive care and digitisation.

Despite her party losing one seat, Vautmans remains the sole representative for the Flemish liberals in the European Parliament. Talking to Euractiv, she emphasised her commitment to making Europe more decisive and stronger through health cooperation.

“It is one of my battles to make Europe more decisive and stronger,” she affirmed. Vautmans believes a European Health Union can enhance cooperation between EU member states in public health and promote health protection across Europe.

“I remain committed to a Europe where a health union becomes a reality, with solidarity and sharing of experience at its core,” she stated.

Reducing dependence on non-European medicines

Vautmans also stresses the importance of reducing Europe’s dependence on other continents for medicines. She champions the Critical Medicine Act, which aims to bring essential medicine production back to Europe.

“A joined-up policy on partnerships, financing, and regulation is needed,” she said. She argues that European agreements with the pharmaceutical industry can revitalise the development and production of strategic medicines and active ingredients within Europe and Belgium.

“Only in a European market can we make the pharmaceutical industry in Europe competitive again,” Vautmans remarked.

Equal access, preventive care and digitisation

She outlines three critical healthcare priorities for Europe: “First, ensuring that all European citizens, regardless of socioeconomic background or geographic location, have equal access to quality healthcare is key,” she told Euractiv.

To achieve this, she advocates for significantly reducing waiting lists for medical treatment and guaranteeing timely access to specialist care for every citizen.

“Second, Europe must continue to focus on preventive health care,” she said. This involves promoting healthy lifestyles, addressing risk factors (such as smoking and obesity), and providing comprehensive mental health and wellness support.

“We must continue to pull the preventive card,” she said.

Her third priority is the digitalisation of healthcare, which Vautmans believes “really needs to be embraced.” This requires significant investment in digital infrastructure, health data interoperability, and e-health solutions.

“We should focus on promoting the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS),” she explains. “The EHDS makes the exchange of health data easier and increases efficiency.” She adds that safeguarding individuals’ privacy must always be a top priority in this process.

Pharmaceutical legislation reform

Vautmans confirms the significance of overhauling pharmaceutical legislation in the next European Parliament.  She sees this reform as balancing incentives for research and development of new medicines with improved access and availability throughout the EU.

She also believes fostering innovation within the pharmaceutical sector is crucial, benefiting both scientific progress and patient outcomes.

“The overhaul provides greater harmonisation of the internal market for medicines, speeds up the process of getting medicines approved, introduces new tools to combat drug shortages, allows for the expansion of joint procurement, and will improve availability, affordability, and equal access to medicines for all Europeans,” Vautmans explained.

Strengthening the EMA

Vautmans said she will work for a balanced approach to pharmaceutical legislation, which includes promoting transparency in drug pricing, encouraging research and development of new treatments, and ensuring the availability of affordable medicines for all EU citizens.

She also emphasises the importance of ensuring effective oversight of the pharmaceutical sector to ensure that medicines are safe and of high quality. This requires strengthening the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and facilitating cooperation between national supervisory authorities.

Tailored healthcare for rare disease patients

Regarding the revision of pharmaceutical legislation, she advocates for creating a European framework for rare diseases to enable successful orphan drugs and tailored healthcare for these patients.

Vautmans also supports comprehensive group purchasing of medicines for rare and chronic diseases or antibiotics and equal access to contraceptive and abortion drugs across the EU.

She supports R&D incentives and measures to counter antimicrobial resistance by combining transferable exclusivity vouchers with a push-and-pull mechanism to encourage the development of new antimicrobials.

Security as a main priority

While health is important, Vautmans prioritises security, which includes safeguarding Europe, establishing a European defence, combating illegal migration, and protecting industry and economic stability.

She emphasises that Europe’s economic strength and competitiveness are vital for overall security. To tackle unfair competition from countries like China, Vautmans advocates for a robust European industry.

“Without a strong European industry and innovation,” she states, “we will not achieve our ambitions in the green and digital transitions.”

She calls for a unified European industrial policy, supported by an Industrial Deal, to strengthen European industry and competitiveness, along with enhancing trade agreements and addressing unfair trade practices.

[By Nicole Verbeeck, Edited by Vasililiki Angouridi, Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab]

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