European doctors stand in solidarity: review of 2023
As the year draws to a close, we look back at some of our work during 2023:
Further help for the besieged people of Ukraine was delivered by the Ukraine Medical Help Fund coordinated by CPME, WMA and EFMA. You can find more information about the fund and how to donate here.
We called for the Turkish Medical Association's Central Council to be reinstated after they were dismissed from their elected positions.
We also received with sadness reports on the situation in Israel and Gaza and all stand in solidarity with our Israeli colleagues in their efforts to provide care and alleviate the suffering of all those affected by the conflict.
As the final negotiations on the European Health Data Space (EHDS) begin, European doctors continue to call on the European Parliament and Council to exclude micro and small enterprises from the secondary data obligations and ensure clear provisions on confidentiality, liability and functionality.
Earlier this year, we published our proposed amendments to EHDS and joint statements with partners.
CPME has proposed improvements to the European Commission's proposal for the reform of the EU pharmaceutical legislation, guided by three principles: accessibility, resilience and effectiveness.
In 2023, our association accelerated our efforts to advocate for more European action on AMR.
Our summary report provides an overview of our recent publications and events on AMR, including our new policy, recalling that that prudent prescription of antibiotics is a responsibility of each practicing doctor in Europe and worldwide and reaffirms our commitment to the One Health approach.
We published a new policy on climate change and health, making key recommendations to policy-makers and the healthcare sector.
Climate change already has an impact on health, affecting factors such as heatwaves, clean air, drought, and sufficient food, as well as shifting the geographical distribution of diseases. It is a societal, political, scientific and economic imperative to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. Concrete action can be taken on improving EU air quality legislation, on which we continue to call for alignment with WHO guidelines by 2023.
We published a policy providing recommendations to enhance the well-being of doctors across Europe, with the aim of improving patient care, professional excellence, and overall job satisfaction.
The new policy makes a range of recommendations, each designed to support the holistic well-being of doctors at all stages of their careers to improve retention and recruitment.
Our policy, published in November, cautions policy-makers and the public of the serious public health concern of cannabis.
The policy highlights evidence of substantial health harms related to cannabis use across Europe. Adopting the core principle of medicine, of ‘first do no harm’, European doctors oppose further legalisation of cannabis and urge policy-makers to make efforts to reduce cannabis use by citizens.
Our statement makes six clear recommendations to the European Commission and the Member States calling for concerted action to secure medicine supplies for the autumn and winter season, as well as for the long-term.
On 17 January, nearly 100 experts from across Europe gathered to discuss European and national vaccination policies and healthcare professionals' role in increasing vaccine confidence and uptake.
The Coalition for Vaccination conference brought together healthcare professionals, students, policymakers, civil society, researchers, and the general public.
The Coalition also issued a statement on the autumn-winter vaccination season 2023-24, calling for countries to make influenza and COVID-19 vaccination easily accessible particularly to high-risk population groups.