It is time to discuss the future of healthcare in the EU, Croatian Health Minister, Vili Beros,said on Tuesday at a meeting of the EPSCO Council for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs, which brought together EU health ministers in Luxembourg.

After a full two years of crisis management of the pandemic, we now need to consider the future of healthcare in the EU. We had constructive discussions on the establishment of the European Health Data Area, the revision of the EU Strategy for Global Health and the current issue of surplus vaccines, Beros said at the meeting, as reported by the Ministry of Health.

The common goal is to protect the health of our citizens, but as decision-makers “we also have a duty to justify the trust of citizens, which we are continuing to actively work on,” he said.

The EU health ministers discussed a proposal for a Regulation on the European Health Data Area, which represents a major step forward in digitizing health systems in the context of applying the best principles and a common approach to establishing a secure framework for health data exchange.

Beros underscored the importance of full respect for the protection of personal data and the need to ensure an interoperable framework for the secure exchange of health data and their use to improve the quality of healthcare.

The ministers further considered possible priorities in the revision of the EU’s Global Health Strategy. They emphasized the need to strengthen coordination between member states, as well as the EU’s role in the field of health at the global level.

There was also talk about the current situation in the context of health and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and the European Commission informed all member states about the implementation of regulations on medicinal products and the Regulation on Health Technology Assessment.

Minister Beros also referred to the current challenges related to the situation with surplus vaccines against Covid-19. He said he shared the thoughts and concerns of other member states regarding the adequate management of vaccine surpluses and the prevention of new stockpiling.

It is necessary to restart negotiations with vaccine manufacturers. We want to further update this topic and call on the EC to make stronger efforts to adjust existing vaccine procurement contracts, in line with the current epidemiological situation, Beros said. That would help achieve a sufficient level of flexibility and ensure favorable results for health systems, he added.