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Health

The European Union has a limited role with regards to Health. It cannot instruct Member States on how to provide health care or reverse decisions to downgrade services at hospitals.

However, The EU plays a vital role in many other ways such as monitoring food stuffs and hygiene standards.

During this term of office I will:

Push for the Creation of an EU Suicide Prevention Strategy with significant EU funds aimed at ending social isolation, early detection of mental health problems and securing treatment

Push for the Creation of an EU Mental Health Treatment and Strategy to help the high number of people that have mental health problems and to ensure they receive the help they need

Secure EU funding for Care of the Elderly including provision of care centres and rural transport to day centres and activities.

I will tackle the Problem of Obesity by creating specific programmes aimed at educating people on healthy eating, making healthier foods cheaper and more attractive to consumers and ensuring that both children and adults can access sports facilities all year round in their local area.

I will work to ensure increased access to Cross Border Health Care- With the new Cross Border Health Care Directive I will push for easier access to cross border healthcare for Irish residents so than can access better and cheaper health care abroad.

Health and the EU:

In the European Parliament Health comes under the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/homeCom.do?language=EN&body=ENVI

This Committee is responsible for:

1. environmental policy and environmental protection measures, in particular concerning:
   1. air, soil and water pollution, waste management and recycling, dangerous substances and preparations, noise levels, climate change, protection of biodiversity,
   2. sustainable development,
   3. international and regional measures and agreements aimed at protecting the environment,
   4. restoration of environmental damage,
   5. civil protection,
   6. the European Environment Agency;
2. 2. public health, in particular:
   1. programmes and specific actions in the field of public health,
   2. pharmaceutical and cosmetic products,
   3. health aspects of bio terrorism,
   4. the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products and the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control;
3. food safety issues, in particular:
   1. the labeling and safety of foodstuffs,
   2. veterinary legislation concerning protection against risks to human health; public health checks on foodstuffs and food production systems,
   3. the European Food Safety Authority and the European Food and Veterinary Office

The European Commission has recently launched a Consultation: EU action to reduce health inequalities action to reduce health inequalities.

A consultation has been launched to collect views on how the European Union can contribute to reducing health inequalities both within and between Member States.

The ECHI (European Community Health Indicators) project was carried out in the framework of the Health Monitoring Programme and the Community Public Health Programme 2003-2008. The result is a list of 'indicators' for the public health field arranged according to a conceptual view on health and health determinants.