Towards digital health

Key points

The EESC:

• endorses the European Commission's efforts to make eHealth a high priority within the Digital Agenda,
• notes that people seeking information, patients and healthcare professionals have repeatedly stressed the need for full, accurate and up-to-date information on medicinal products and for a single digital market,
• is of the view that this officially approved information must be available without discrimination or obstacle so as to afford access for the deaf and the visually or otherwise physically impaired,
• believes electronic distribution of product information approved by drug licensing authorities will further improve access,
• points out that having all this on a single portal means there is a trustworthy and in many ways easily accessible source of officially authorised information that meets disability-access criteria. This means that patients and healthcare professionals can compare any information available elsewhere with the basic authorised information,
• stresses that doctors (particularly GPs) and other healthcare professionals, such as pharmacists and nurses, are the first point of contact for patients, providing them with recommendations regarding their ailments and treatment options.

Other relevant EESC opinions:

• Medicinal products for human use – Community code (INT/469 - rapporteur: Ms Heinisch)
• A Digital Agenda for Europe (TEN/426 - rapporteur: Mr McDonogh)
• The digital society: access, education, training, employment, tools for equality  (TEN/548 - Rapporteur: Ms Caño Aguilar)
• Digital Growth - Interim Review (TEN/512 - Rapporteur:  Mr McDonogh)
• Effective, accessible and resilient health systems (SOC/516 - Rapporteur: Mr Rodríguez García-Caro)
• Health and Safety at Work – Strategic Framework 2014-2020 (SOC/512 - Rapporteur: Mr Trindade)
• EU framework on "mHealth" and "health and wellbeing applications" (TEN/551 - Rapporteur: Ms Caño Aguilar)

For more inforation please contact the INT Section Secretariat