#HealthyEU: @EFPIA launches digital European Parliament elections campaign
With exactly 10 weeks to go to the start of the European Parliament elections, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) has launched a social media campaign calling for an integrated life sciences strategy for the EU.
"The mission of our industry is to improve health and develop innovative solutions for unmet needs. Together with public actors, we have seen a significant increase in quality of life and life expectancy over the last 60 years but unless we act together, we will lose many of the advances we have seen over the last 30 years," said Christopher A. Viehbacher, President EFPIA.
Placing better health at the heart of Europe's economic and social prosperity, the campaign seeks a commitment by new policy makers to partner with the pharmaceutical industry in tackling health inequalities, creating fair and sustainable funding for healthcare, and developing the right environment to nurture research and development (R&D) to allow new discoveries in Europe to flourish.
In the countdown to the elections, the #HealthyEU Health and Growth campaign will outline the opportunities and threats faced by patients and the healthcare sector today, and Provide evidence and facts to inform healthcare debates in the run up to and throughout the 8th European Parliamentary term.
Announcing the campaign today at the 20th Economist Pharma Summit in London, Richard Bergström, EFPIA's Director General said: "An integrated life sciences strategy for the EU will not only deliver better health outcomes for European citizens, but also support financially sustainable healthcare systems, and achieve economic growth in Europe.
The campaign will include a series of online blogs and ongoing social media engagement that will build a case for a more ambitious and integrated life sciences
strategy in the EU, setting out clear priorities for policy-makers, industry and others working in the healthcare sector.
The campaign will highlight, and seek solutions, to current failings in three interdependent pillars of health and growth:
• Europe has seen huge leaps forward in improving life expectancy and overall health over the last 60 years, but major inequalities persist.
• Appropriate use of medicines is a critical tool for sustainable healthcare financing in Europe, but access and predictability of funding has to be improved.
• The research-based pharmaceutical industry continuously invests in R&D, but Europe is losing its competitiveness in the fight for R&D investments.
EFPIA members spend around €30 billion per year on R&D in Europe and this investment provides over 700,000 direct jobs and generates a European trade balance of €80 billion.
The sector is by far EU's most R&D intensive industry and EFPIA believes and EU life sciences strategy should be the cornerstone of any future EU indus
trial policy.
For more on the #HealthyEU Health and Growth campaign visit http://www.efpia.eu/topics/health-growth
About Efpia
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) represents the pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe. Through its direct membership of 33 national associations and 40 leading pharmaceutical companies, EFPIA is the voice on the EU scene of 1,900 companies committed to researching, developing and bringing to patients new medicines that will improve health and the quality of life around the world.
