The European Union is expected to set up in the coming months a procedure for the grouped purchase of vaccines and antiviral drugs to cope with a flu pandemic, and will also draw up a new European-level preparedness plan. Member states and Health Commissioner John Dalli agreed on these measures at an informal meeting of health ministers, on 5 July in Brussels.

“This session on management of the flu pandemic confirmed the Commission’s appeal to the member states for better coordination, particularly on the purchase of medicines. Acting separately places the member states in competition opposite the pharmaceutical industry,” commented Dalli, who promised to present a proposal by next autumn for a strategy on the joint purchase of vaccines on a voluntary basis. At the start of the H1N1 flu pandemic, as the French delegation pointed out, only five of the 27 member states supported such a strategy, but this time none of the states appears opposed.

The ministers also agreed to revise the European Union’s pandemic preparedness plan (see Europolitics4013) to reflect the results of the Executive Committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO), expected to be published in early 2011. This committee is currently studying the WHO’s internal structures and managing the international response to the H1N1 flu pandemic.

All ministers also stressed the need to improve communication so as to restore public confidence. In particular, the public should be better informed about the nature of registration procedures and the way they are executed. n