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The Decision to Approve Vaccine Modifications More Quickly: A Race Against Strains of the Virus?
April 26 At the opening of the session, the president of the EP, David Sassoli, announced a recommendation to accelerate the approval of the modifications of the Covid-19 vaccine, which was adopted by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Safety Food of PE. If no political or EP group in the EP objects within 24 hours, the recommendation will be deemed adopted.
Medicines
What does this mean and will the quality of the vaccines not be affected by speed? According to Liudas Mažylis, MEP of the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, no new dangers are observed, and such a solution would help to be faster than the spread of virus strains:
“We have two options: re-create bureaucratic hurdles for each modification of an already approved vaccine before each coronavirus strain and start over, or consider the approved vaccine, legally developed, clinically proven, clear side effects, understandable efficacy and risks. The researchers and drug companies then modify the vaccine as needed to make it effective against new strains of coronavirus. It is this decision that has been made. “
According to the MEP, this is a long-standing tradition that we sometimes tend to forget: this is exactly the case with influenza vaccines: it is not necessary to repeat all the bureaucratic procedures that take place each time a new one is introduced and modified. strain. respectively.
“We have to trust the experts, and in this case they are completely united,” says Mažylis, recalling that once the new procedure is approved, it would only apply to existing vaccines, and any new vaccine would have to go the usual long way. . To be approved.
Lack of medical equipment in the EU: we are bogged down by drugs for deadly diseases
According to L. Mažylis, although the topic of Covid-19 vaccines is the most famous at the moment, the fact that there is a lack of other medicines in Europe that treat very serious diseases cannot be ignored. The shortage of medicines, according to the MEP, came even long before the pandemic: between 2000 and 2018, the shortage of medicines in the EU only increased and has multiplied several times over the years:
Liudas Mažylis
“There are shortages of different drugs in different countries, but in short, the name ‘antimicrobials’, which are missing, and vaccines, not just Covid-19, are very common. Very often it is said that not all drugs for cancer diseases are equally available. There is a lack of drugs, anesthetics, etc. for vascular diseases in some places ”, says L. Mažylis.
According to L. Mažylis, cancer mortality in Europe is extremely high compared to the world average, which is why the European Commission has presented a plan to fight cancer. However, according to the EP, a large proportion of the missing drugs are drugs for oncological diseases: drugs for cancer, infections and disorders of the nervous system (epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease) account for more than half of the drugs missing.
L. Mažylis highlights four main reasons for the shortage of medicines in the EU: “First, production problems: production has moved too far from the EU. Industrial quotas, legal parallel trade: companies are not obliged to produce for Europe, they can market medicines anywhere. Finally, the economic reasons, such as the price of medicines, affordability are not yet regulated at European level, which is a matter for the Member States. “
9 out of 10 doses of penicillin arrive in Europe from China and India: a dependency addressing PE
What is the EP doing to change the situation? “4 years ago, the EP adopted a resolution on joint procurement. This has been very successful with Covid-19 vaccines. In the case of pharmaceutical companies by the European Commission, it is possible to lower the price effectively and it will not happen that effective medicines disappear due to commercial deductions. There are also cases of this type “, says L. Mažylis about the policy followed. The official EP report also states that the objective is to introduce financial support to encourage manufacturers of pharmaceutical ingredients assets to establish themselves in Europe and attract foreign direct investment in factories.
Analgesics
In addition, says the parliamentarian, it is necessary to shorten supply chains by bringing production closer to Europe. According to official EP data, 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients come from India and China, and 40% are imported from here. medicines sold in Europe.
These two countries produce 60 percent. paracetamol, up to 90 percent. penicillin and half ibuprofen worldwide. The current situation, says L. Mažylis, is a potential opportunity to become dependent not only in a commercial sense, so relocating production capacity closer to Europe is a very important issue:
“It is important to create a European reserve, from which to distribute it correctly in various contingencies. A European health data space and governance system would also be viable if we could create one. The EU has adopted the Health for Health program, which is heavily funded. Talk about the fact that drugs and medical devices must be affordable. Then a whole series of already detailed measures should be taken. “
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