Health sector awaits upcoming regulatory changes: ‘It’s a critical time’.
The closing table of the 5th Symposium of the Healthcare Observatory reviewed the challenges facing the sector.
Spain, as a leader of a European health policy’. That was the title of the 5th Symposium of the Healthcare Observatory, organised by EL ESPAÑOL and Invertia. Throughout the four days of this forum, the legislative reforms in the health field that are being made in the European Union have been the main topic.
Different regulations are still to come: pharmaceuticals, health technology assessment, the European health data space… All of this means that the health sector is at a ‘critical moment’. This was the unanimous opinion of the speakers who took part in the closing session of the 5th Symposium of the Healthcare Observatory.
‘Europe is working on reforming and is proposing a series of regulations that are making it possible to generate federated projects,’ said Marta Villanueva, director general of the IDIS Foundation.
‘Europe is working on reforming and is proposing a series of regulations that are making it possible to generate federated projects,’ said Marta Villanueva, director general of the IDIS Foundation.
For his part, Juan Yermo, Director General of Farmaindustria, pointed out that Europe has lost competitiveness in the development of new medicines. ‘China has overtaken us,’ he said. In this sense, he spoke about the initiative at European level on pharmaceutical legislation, pointing out that ‘it is going in the opposite direction to where we should be going’.
‘The Commission has proposed reducing exclusivity. We are concerned about the loss of incentives,’ he added. On the other hand, there is the health technology assessment legislation. ‘Medicines have to be assessed from a health perspective but also the social benefits in terms of savings, fewer hospitalisations, increased wellbeing, etc.’
For his part, Juan Yermo, director general of Farmaindustria, pointed out that Europe has lost competitiveness in the development of new medicines. ‘China has overtaken us,’ he said. In this sense, he spoke about the initiative at European level on pharmaceutical legislation, pointing out that ‘it is going in the opposite direction to where we should be going’.
‘The Commission has proposed reducing exclusivity. We are concerned about the loss of incentives,’ he added. On the other hand, there is the health technology assessment legislation. ‘Medicines have to be assessed from a health perspective but also the social benefits in terms of savings, fewer hospitalisations, greater wellbeing, etc.’
Finally, Antonio Blanes, Director of Pharmaceutical Services at the General Council of Official Associations of Pharmacists, closed the round table by saying that ‘we are at a time of transformation’. And, like the other speakers, there are aspects of concern to the pharmaceutical profession.
This is the case of the problem of medicine shortages. ‘We hope that these regulatory changes will begin to solve this problem. Last year, 475 molecules had supply problems, according to the figures provided by Blanes.
