Slovak candidates contest EU health vision, pharma package central to concerns [Advocacy Lab Content]

As Slovak voters go to the polls candidates are fighting for Slovakia’s 15 MEP seats with substantially different visions of how EU health legislation should be directed – the EU Pharma Package is central to current concerns.

While health has been down the list of priorities in debates and party manifestos, preserving the right to veto, Ukraine support, LGBTI+ rights, Green Deal rules, agriculture and energy have retained the centre of attention.

Slovakia will try to break an unflattering track record of having the lowest voter turnout in the European elections out of all member states since its accession in 2004. 324 candidates from 24 political parties run for a place in the European Parliament.

Pharma package necessary, but not perfect

MEP candidate Krisztián Váradi, representing the position of the Progressive Slovakia (Renew) party, says that the idea of some active substances being protected by pharmaceutical companies for decades should be questioned. However, they understand that innovation and development require funds.

“Such an approach will motivate pharmaceutical companies to develop new medicines. It is also essential that the EU regulates this centrally so that some member states do not find themselves in a situation where they are unable to purchase these drugs because of the price,” Váradi told Euractiv.

“It is necessary to further examine the balance between the potential risk of artificial price increase and accessibility to rare disease treatments,” he added.

MEP Miriam Lexmann (Christian Democratic Party/EPP) perceives that this long-awaited legislation package was necessary to update current rules that no longer served their purpose.

“The Commission proposal brought many improvements that would simplify and speed up procedures and improve access to innovative medicine. The Parliament’s position brought several changes, positively evaluated by experts, mainly to the parts concerning the protection of intellectual property, and I have voted for these changes. I have also appreciated that we were able to deliver our position despite a very tight timeline,” MEP Lexmann told Euractiv.

First reading, more to come

She warns that the text only passed the first reading, and its content might change during further negotiations with the member states.

MP Bittó Cigániková (Freedom and Solidarity/ECR) considers the requirements for manufacturers of innovative medicines to be too demanding, to the extent that the EU is becoming uncompetitive compared to the Asian or American markets.

“It is necessary to do everything to reduce bureaucratic requirements and to at least maintain patent protection for innovative medicines. Otherwise, pharmaceutical companies will move their production elsewhere, and in our attempt to protect European citizens, we will end up depriving them of timely access to innovative medicines and clinical trials,” she told Euractiv.

Slovak National Party (ID) candidate Zdenko Čambal thinks giving a responsible answer is beyond the capacity of a layman and that there are at least 5 million of them living in Slovakia. Instead, he highlights that the poor pandemic management by the former coalition parties caused citizens’ distrust towards the state and vaccination.

EHDS welcomed, data privacy must be adhered to

MEP Lexmann also supported the European Health Data Space proposal, stating that sharing and using information for both primary and secondary use while fully respecting data privacy is useful.

“Primary use will help mainly patients easily keep and transfer their records with the possibility of deciding which parts of their records will be available to different parties. Secondary use with the ‘opt-out’ possibility will be a significant advantage in the field of research and healthcare management,” she continued.

Progressive Slovakia recognises that with more health information, science can also move faster, especially in the world of artificial intelligence, where massive amounts of data can be analysed quickly and effectively.

“We strongly support cooperation and information exchange between the member states. This is essential to give scientists access to information often missing or scattered across databases,” Váradi added. 

Data sharing anonymity 

MP Bittó Cigániková supports data sharing but stresses the importance of maintaining patients’ anonymity.

“Exchanging information with more advanced healthcare systems and countries with larger populations can only benefit Slovakia. However, I reiterate that the exchange of data must be strictly regulated to ensure it does not involve specific individuals,” she continued.

Candidate Čambal explains that in an era of AI, deepening digitalisation, and absolute dependence of Slovakia on medicines from third countries, any attempt at expedited autonomy from Slovakia’s perspective is irresponsible toward patients.

“I believe that the EU also has significant shortcomings in this area. There is too much politics and too many interests of dominant European states being pushed at the expense of the weaker ones, and this creates inequality among the EU citizens,” he pointed out.

“Equality is always debatable because it is not possible due to the existence of rich and poor social classes, but from the perspective of patients, this inequality is disgusting and discriminatory and could become a source of discontent in the future,” Čambal concluded.

The coalition party of PM Fico, Smer-SD, did not respond to Euractiv’s questions, and neither did the coalition party of president-elect Peter Pellegrini, Hlas-SD.

[By Filip Áč, Edited by Vasiliki Angouridi, Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab]

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