As COVID-19 has proved once again, diseases do not recognise borders… So, with labs around the world on the race to find a vaccine, it is time to ask ourselves the question: What can the EU do to help? Is there a European added value concerning vaccination?

EPRS policy podcast - Towards a joint European approach on vaccination

Our longtime use - and abuse…- of antibiotics in humans, agricultural livestock management, and food production has led to an increased threat of antimicrobial resistance, making us all more vulnerable to infectious diseases… But what if the answer lied in probiotics?

EPRS STOA podcast - What if we could fight antibiotic resistance with probiotics?

The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the EU’s dependency on countries outside its borders for the production of many active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines. It is not a new problem… but it has become painfully exposed in the past weeks. So, why is that? And what can the EU do about it? Never a debate has been timelier!

EPRS policy podcast - Addressing shortages of medicines

MEPs review the new US administration’s recent decision to pull back from a number of international organisations and agreements.

Following his inauguration on 20 January 2025, President Trump signed a large number of executive orders setting the priorities of the new US administration, including the country’s withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation. Alongside Commission representatives, MEPs will discuss the impact of these decisions internationally and on the EU’s future involvement in these global initiatives.

Background

This is the second time the US has initiated the process of withdrawing from both the WHO and Paris Agreement.

During the first Trump administration (2017-2021), the US gave formal notice of withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in November 2019 (which then took 12 months to take effect). Shortly after taking office, President Biden revoked the decision, with the US formally rejoining the agreement in February 2021. President Trump also started the withdrawal process from the WHO in 2020, but it was never finalised and the decision was reversed by the Biden administration.

Debate on the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, WHO and USaid

EP Mini-Plenary Session - Joint Debate - Pharmaceutical package

Press conference on EU options for improving access to medicines

An employer of Hungarian medicine factory Sanofi works in Veresegyhaz 35 kms from Budapest on July 16, 2012.

Health Related Matters

This infoclip illustrates the medication delivery process and drugs storage in pharmacies in Belgium, in the context of a surge of respiratory infections and the shortage of medication in Europe.

Infoclip: Drugs shortage in pharmacies

Many rare diseases manifest themselves in childhood, resulting in a shortened lifespan and leading to a dependency on care throughout the patients’ lives, causing significant suffering to the patients and their families. Patients affected by rare diseases often spend years enduring a “diagnostic odyssey” before receiving the correct diagnosis, if ever. Most rare diseases lack effective treatments representing an enormous unmet medical need. EU research and innovation is crucial to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. Restrictions: ©The material may not be edited and must be shown entirely.

EPRS - 5 facts about rare diseases

33 000 people die in Europe every year from untreated infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This number could increase tenfold by 2050. By then, antibiotic resistance will surpass cancer as the second biggest cause of death worldwide. Without working antibiotics, we could return to a “pre-antibiotic era”, where infections from surgeries or cancer treatments, and even simple infections would no longer be possible to treat.Bacteria become resistant to antibiotics when we use the wrong antibiotic or abuse antibiotics to treat an infection. We can acquire antibiotic-resistant bacteria from eating meat from animals treated with antibiotics or by being exposed to contaminated water. Antibiotic resistance also impacts livestock, agriculture and food production, causing a serious economic burden that costs the EU €1.5 billion per year... Restrictions: ©The material may not be edited and must be shown entirely.

EPRS - Fighting antibiotic resistance

Extracts from the debate on options for improving access to medicines during the plenary session in Brussels (01-02/03/2017)

Options for improving access to medicines: extracts from the vote

This infoclip illustrates a pharmacy in Brussels (Belgium): exterior views, pharmacist at work, customer, various pharmaceutical products...

Infoclip: Pharmacy and medicines

This infoclip illustrates the production of medicines in a a pharmaceutical plant in France. Views of lines production of pills, pens for diabetes. Manual check of the drugs produced. Work in the laboratory.

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