At the Council Meeting in Luxemburg on 22 June 2012 EU’s Health Ministers will discuss how to improve EU cooperation as regards managing possible future flu pandemics, outbreaks of E.coli or other cross border incidents that may threaten the health of EU citizens.
Furthermore, the Ministers will put special focus on the serious and increasing problems with bacteria resistant to treatment with antibiotics. The Ministers will provide their political support to continue combating antimicrobial resistance by strengthening cooperation between the human and veterinary sectors and by reducing the use of antibiotics.
The Health Ministers are also expected to agree on the new Health Programme for 2014-2020 which will provide funds for projects on developing new methods and tools for monitoring and planning health with a view to disseminate these across the EU. Both national health authorities, educational institutions and NGO’s working in the public health area can be granted funds from the programme.
Minister for Health, Astrid Krag, states:
"The items on the Council Meeting agenda are splendid examples of EU’s significant role in the area of health. This goes for the fight against antimicrobial resistance – a common challenge that we must all face up to. The alternative being that in the future EU citizens could die because of simple infections. This scenario is scaring and completely unacceptable. Therefore, we should of course learn from each other and share knowledge and experiences across the EU. The new Health Programme, which I expect that we will agree upon at the Council Meeting, does also aim at faster dissemination of good practice and methods in order to avoid reinventing the wheel over and over again. I am also looking forward to the discussion with my colleagues on how to optimize EU cooperation in responding to possible cross-border health threats such as flu pandemics in the future.’