By Martin Banks - 12th January 2010
Under-the-table payments to doctors are still made in eight member states
Johan Hjertqvist
A conference in parliament has heard that better patient information will not necessarily lead to increased drug consumption.
The debate on Tuesday heard there was "no evidence" this would happen.
Organised by the Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP), a Brussels-based think tank, the seminar looked at ways of improving patient access to information on pharmaceuticals.
One of the speakers, Johan Hjertqvist, of HCP, said, "It has been argued that better information and access to information will also speed up drug consumption.
"But I believe people are more responsible than this and that what we are likely to see is more informed and well-adjusted consumption."
He said that while there was a "huge" amount of information available about drugs to both the layman and professions not all of it was "reliable, structured and organised".
There had been some progress in this area but further effort was required, he added.
The seminar was also told about the "wide disparities" in healthcare across the EU in areas such as cancer treatment and waiting lists.
It also heard that "under-the-table" payments to doctors are still made in eight member states while the mammography screening coverage span in the EU is 10 to 98 per cent.
Diagnosis and therapies was described by Hjertqvist as a "disaster zone" while progress was still needed on cross-border care information.
EPP member Christofer Fjellner, who hosted the event, said it was timely as it comes in the same week as a parliamentary hearing on the proposed new EU health commissioner.
"You can be sure the commissioner-designate will be closely questioned about these and other related matters," he said.
