Luxembourg Minister of Health Lydia Mutsch reiterated her call for healthcare access for refugees at the annual meeting of the European Health Forum Gastein from 1 to 2 October 2015.
This 18th edition of the Forum focused on the theme of 'Securing Health in Europe: Balancing Priorities, Sharing Responsibilities' and assembled key players in public health, including policy makers and representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament, World Health Organiation and all forces of civil society.
The refugee crisis and the consequent associated challenges of access to innovative medicines were two of the primary topics up for discussion, featuring as priorities of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
In the presence of the Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis and Latvian Minister of Health, Guntis Belevics, Lydia Mutsch stressed that "Investment in prevention is an indispensable premise if we are to guarantee for our patients a financially viable health system based on the European values of universality, solidarity and equal access to high quality health care." The Minister went on to define access to health care as a basic human right and stated that it is the responsibility of EU Member States to meet the specific health needs of refugees whilst maintaining a high level of national coverage.
Minister Mutsch then argued that policy makers must make greater use of cross-border cooperation and consider the patient's needs in the context of decisions concerning the organisation of their health systems.
Commissioner Andriukaitis congratulated Luxembourg on its recent signature of a declaration of intent with Belgium and the Netherlands to negotiate lower orphan drugs prices with the pharmaceutical industry. "The Lisbon Treaty does not prohibit Member States from cooperating more," commented the Commissioner.
Photo by Ministry of Health (L-R: David Rose, Moderator; Vytenis Andriukaitis, Health Commissioner; Guenael Rogier, OMS Europe; Lydia Mutsch, Minister of Health of Luxembourg; Guntis Belevics, Latvian Minister of Health; Helmut Brand, President of the Internationl Forum Gastein.)
