Miñones calls for work to build a strong, cohesive, flexible and accessible healthcare system for all EU citizens

He stressed this during his participation, via telematic means, in the Working Meeting of Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA I), which is being held this week in Santiago de Compostela, as part of the health agenda of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Minister for Health has called on all European and national institutions to collaborate in achieving this objective from a global approach, in order to confront the paradigm shift that is taking place in the field of health worldwide.

A new scenario, Miñones stressed, which "takes on board the lessons learned in recent decades", with the aim of ensuring that EU citizens have access to innovative, safe, effective and quality medicines when they need them.

The acting Minister for Health also defended the need to continue promoting the revamping of an innovative European pharmaceutical sector, with the aim of making the European Union "an attractive region and a world leader" and, above all, "to focus on patients and their needs".

In the words of José Miñones, this is a "huge" challenge, which Spain is taking on with a "clear and ambitious" vision, both from the Ministry of Health and from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS).

The acting Minister for Health also had words of recognition for the work that the medicines agencies carry out in the context of the European Union, "in such a changing context and in which multiple actors intervene".

In this respect, it has meant both the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe adopted in 2020, as well as the proposed pharmaceutical legislative package published in 2023.

Non official translation