Meeting with the Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency ( EMA)
On 10 March, PGEU met with the EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke and colleagues to discuss key issues for European community pharmacists. PGEU presented its positions on medicine shortages whilst also outlining PGEU activities and practices from members on pharmacovigilance the role of community pharmacists in COVID-19 vaccination. The EMA Executive Director expressed her gratitude for the key contributions of community pharmacists in translating regulatory decisions and actions into meaningful contributions for patients in primary care, especially during the pandemic. EMA also thanked PGEU for its constructive contributions to the work of the EMA in the framework of the healthcare professionals working party and both parties expressed their commitment to further enhancing the relationship between EMA and PGEU.
DIA Executive Forum
On 16 March, PGEU spoke at the DIA Executive Forum. The Forum brought together senior EU policy makers and stakeholders including Emer Cooke, Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency, Andrzej Rys, Director at DG SANTE (European Commission) Andrea Ammon, Director of ECDC and Sibilia Quilici, Executive Director of Vaccines Europe. The discussion focused on the most important lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic about the functioning of the healthcare and regulatory systems in Europe. PGEU stressed that the main lessons learned, from the community pharmacists perspective, are the need to maximise the use of community pharmacies by expanding the scope of pharmacy practice and the need to invest more on primary care.
Workshop on EU4Health Programme: "Potential solutions for a healthier European Union''
On 24 March, PGEU attended a Workshop on the EU4Health Programme 2021. EU4Health is the EU’s response to COVID-19, providing funding to eligible health organisations and NGOs from EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme. The workshop built on the outcome of the 22 January EU4Health Webinar and further explored potential solutions for EU-wide health challenges under the four strands of the Programme by gathering stakeholder feedback, including from NGOs, associations, businesses, Member States’ policy makers, patients’ organisations, etc. The main workshop sessions focused on Digital, Crisis Preparedness, Health Systems and Disease Prevention. These sessions gathered input on potential solutions to health challenges that could contribute to the objectives of the EU4Health programme.
The structured dialogue initiative
On 25 March, PGEU participated to the first meeting of the Structured Dialogue Initiative.The purpose of the structured dialogue initiative was to strengthen the resilience of pharmaceutical supply chains and ensure the security of supply of medicines. The initiative brought together and facilitates discussions with and between the actors in the pharmaceuticals manufacturing value chain, public authorities, research community, health professionals and patient organisations.
COST Action CA15105 meeting on medicine shortages
On 26 March, PGEU presented the results of the PGEU Medicine Shortages Survey 2020 as well as the European twinning project on exchanging comparable (pharmacy-reported) information on shortages at the COST Action CA15105 meeting on medicine shortages. The COST Action CA15105 is a framework supporting trans-national cooperation among researchers on medicine shortages across Europe. During the meeting, several stakeholders and country representatives presented ongoing developments and best practices on shortages.
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2021 at a glance
May
PGEU Annual Report 2021
Community pharmacists exemplar role as primary care providers in the COVID-19 pandemic
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