"Spain heads up model in southern Europe to reduce inequalities in access to medicines", says Dolors Montserrat

Dolors Montserrat, in a statement to the media, highlighted the importance of the Valletta Declaration, which Slovenia and Croatia signed up to on Tuesday, 30 January. The aim of the meeting is to establish the common bases for "avoiding inequality in access, sharing success stories and for the National Health System to continue as a benchmark and a model to be imitated due to its efficiency and quality".

Dolors Montserrat also highlighted that 230 million Europeans were represented in her ministerial department on Tuesday and that their health is a priority for the Government of Spain. "Spain is committed to the sustainability of healthcare systems and, for that reason, this third meeting is being held in Spain.

During the meeting, the minister praised the system of benchmark prices for medicines in Spain, which is expected to lead to a saving this year of 88.7 million euros, of which 10.32 million will directly benefit citizens; and the centralised procurement of medicines that has led to a saving of 48 million euros between 2012 and 2016 in medicines and healthcare products; and 103 million euros in the procurement of vaccinations.

Valletta Declaration

On 8 May 2017, the Health Ministers of Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain signed the Valletta Declaration at a meeting in Valletta, which the ministers of Ireland and Romania signed up to the following day. They agreed to the creation of a Technical Committee to explore possible ways to collaborate on the exchange of information and identification of good practices, and to explore new models to negotiate pricing, financing and the joint procurement of medicines. This Technical Committee has met on three occasions - in June 2017 in Cyprus, in October 2017 in Rome and on Tuesday in Madrid.

The countries that have signed this declaration are Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Ireland and Slovenia (joined on Tuesday), together with Croatia, which although it has not formally signed the Declaration, has signed a declaration of intent and took part in Tuesday's meeting. France also attended as an observer State.

At Tuesday's meeting, as well as the Technical Committee from Valletta, four health ministers and two State secretaries took part: Adalberto Campos Fernandes, Minister for Portugal; Andreas Xanthos, Minister for Greece; Chris Fearne, Minister for Malta; Milojka Kolar Celarc, Minister for Slovenia; Dan Octavian Alexandrescu, State Secretary for Romania; and Zeljko Plazonic, State Secretary for Croatia.

Non official translation