EC to tackle counterfeiting and illegal distribution of medicines

The European Commission (EC) has put forward a package of measures to tackle Europe-wide inequalities in the availability of information about prescription-only medicines and the issues of their counterfeiting and illegal distribution.

It has also suggested ways of improving patient protection by strengthening the EU system for the safety monitoring ('pharmacovigilance') of medicines.

EC vice president Guenter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry, said: "Everything we are suggesting builds on the needs and interests of patients. European citizens should benefit from safe, innovative and accessible medicines. They should be best informed about available medicines and treatments. We wish to restore the EU's traditional role as the pharmacy of the world."

The pharmaceutical sector has been and remains a strategic sector for Europe. It employs more than 634,000 people and accounts for more than 17% of EU r&d expenditure.

Although innovation has enabled patients to benefit from treatments considered unimaginable a few decades ago and much has been achieved, the EC says major health, economic and scientific challenges lie ahead.

The EC aims to discuss with member states ways to improve market access by making pricing/reimbursement decisions more transparent and developing initiatives to boost EU pharmaceutical research.

The EC also aims to intensify cooperation with major partners (US, Japan, Canada) to improve medicines" safety worldwide; and strengthen co-operation with emerging partners (Russia, India, China).