Inside EU Health: EMA recommendations; cancer; women’s health; preparedness; tobacco taxation; Gaza
EMA’s latest recommendations; Parliament backs €2.5 billion cancer fund; women’s health roadmap; lessons of COVID-19; Malta hands tobacco industry victory; WHO DG criticizes Israel’s continued attacks on healthcare in Gaza
EMA backs seven new medicines and 11 expanded treatment indications
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) human medicines committee has recommended seven new medicines for approval and expanded indications for 11 existing treatments following its 9–12 November meeting.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended Aumseqa (aumolertinib) for non-small cell lung cancer, Baxfendy (baxdrostat) for insufficiently controlled hypertension and Zybrivo (sintilimab) for non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer in adults.
Catherine Feore
European Parliament backs €2.5 billion cancer funding pledge and stronger prevention measures
MEPs have adopted a resolution calling for dedicated funding to strengthen Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, alongside tougher tobacco and nicotine regulation, improved access to treatment and stronger protections against discrimination for cancer survivors.
The European Parliament has backed a call to ring-fence at least €2.5 billion for cancer-related action in the EU’s next long-term budget and address persistent inequalities in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The resolution, led by Romanian MEP Vlad Voiculescu (Renew), was adopted on Thursday by 447 votes to 66, with 91 abstentions.
Catherine Feore
European Commission to unveil Women’s Health Roadmap in 2027
The European Commission is planning to present a European Roadmap on Women’s Health in 2027, aiming to address persistent gender inequalities in healthcare, improve early diagnosis and strengthen research into women’s health.
“Women live longer, but too often in poorer health,” Várhelyi said, warning that increasing pressure on European healthcare systems could disproportionately affect women.
The Roadmap will bring together existing and planned EU initiatives, particularly those focusing on earlier diagnosis, research and clinical trials.
Catherine Feore
EU risks squandering lessons of COVID-19 as experts warn of dangerous complacency
Health experts warn that political complacency, underfunded healthcare systems and growing distrust of science threaten to undermine the EU's ability to respond to future crises.
Six years after COVID-19 exposed Europe's healthcare vulnerabilities, EU policymakers are being warned that the continent risks repeating costly mistakes as political attention shifts away from pandemic preparedness.
Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (DG HERA), acknowledged that Europe remains far from fully prepared.
Catherine Feore
Malta hands tobacco industry victory as sole holdout on taxation reform
Malta was the only EU country to reject a compromise agreement on the EU’s revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive
Malta has handed the tobacco industry a major victory by blocking an agreement on the EU’s revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive.
The failure at Monday’s meeting of EU finance ministers came despite the willingness of the EU's other 26 member states to accept a difficult compromise on legislation designed to update existing legislation to take account of new products and raise tax levels.
Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris, who chaired the negotiations under Ireland’s EU Council presidency, warned ministers that failure to agree would play directly into the hands of tobacco companies.
Catherine Feore
WHO condemns continuing Israeli attacks on Gaza’s healthcare following strike on Nasser Hospital
Six people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, in the latest attack on healthcare facilities amid an escalating pattern of violence during the ceasefire.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the strike, describing it as “another deadly attack on health care in Gaza”.
“Since October 2023, WHO has documented 1056 attacks on health care in Gaza, resulting in 1010 deaths and 1725 injuries,” he said.
“MSF is utterly appalled and outraged by the Israeli airstrike on Nasser hospital,” the organisation said, which took place without warning.
“It is unconscionable that patients and medical staff are once again being killed and injured inside a hospital, a place where lives should be saved, not taken.”
Catherine Feore