Rules for receiving cross-border healthcare and reimbursement of these costs are now not always clear or easy to understand. That is why the Commission adopted a Proposal on 2 July 2008 for a legal instrument which will provide more clarity about possibilities to seek healthcare in another Member State.
The proposal will also make clear who is responsible for quality and safety of care in cross-border settings. Finally it will strengthen cooperation in different areas, such as networks of centres of reference for specialised care, for example. The Council adopted its Reading position on the proposal, it is now at the European Parliament for a
second reading.

In EU countries, any disease affecting fewer than 5 people in 10 000 is considered rare. In 2008, the Commission adopted a Communication that set out an overall Community strategy to support Member States in ensuring effective and efficient recognition, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care, and research for rare diseases in Europe.
In 2009, following the Commission proposal, the Council adopted a Recommendation in order to help to pool scarce resources that are currently fragmented across individual EU countries. This is a typical case where cooperation at EU level can bring much added-value. Joint action will help patients and professionals share expertise and information across borders.

Progress on improving health and providing better access to healthcare for all cannot be made without a workforce of sufficient capacity and skills. In 2008, the Commission issued a Green paper to raise the general issues and problems facing the workforce in health in the EU. The paper also suggested ways in which these issues may be addressed and poses a series of questions on which views were invited.
Accordingly, a public consultation was launched. The Commission is now reflecting on the results of the consultation to see how the EU can contribute to tackling the challenges facing the European workforce for health. The issue which caused most concern was the perceived shortage of health workers, specialist doctors and nurses in particular.

Each year, millions of EU patients are harmed while receiving healthcare. Healthcare associated infections, errors in diagnoses or medication-related errors can lead to serious damage and even death. Harm affects patients and their families but also health professionals. Moreover, it represents a considerable cost for health systems. A substantial part of harm is avoidable. The EU has put forward a set of initiatives to address patient safety issues, including measures to prevent and control healthcare associated infections. The Commission supports EU countries in their efforts and helps sharing best practice on patient safety and quality of healthcare.

Commission Communication
Council Recommendation

Across Europe there is a shortage of human organs available for transplantation. The Commission adopted a combination of initiatives.
First, a Directive setting the basic safety and quality principles and measures in relation to the donation, procurement and transplantation of human organs.
Second, an Action Plan with 10 priority actions to meet the challenges of organ donation and transplantation in the EU, through a mechanism that strengthens coordination and cooperation between Member States.

- Proposal for a directive on setting standards of quality and safety of human organs intended for transplantation
- Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation (2009-2015) - Strengthened Cooperation between Member

Although significant advances have been made in the fight against the disease, cancer remains a key public health concern. Europe is characterised by worrying inequalities in cancer control and care, existing within, as well as between, Member States of the European Union. That is why the Commission is taking action to promote prevention and early detection of the disease, as well as sharing of information and best practices in cancer care between EU countries. By supporting such actions, the Commission hopes to contribute towards combatting cancer more effectively across the Union.

European Partnership for Action Against Cancer
Council Recommendation on cancer screening

The Commission aims to support the Member States in their efforts to tackle cancer by providing a framework for identifying and sharing information, capacity and expertise in cancer prevention and control, and by engaging relevant stakeholders across the European Union.
Initiative: Action against cancer: European Partnership

Flu is a highly contagious viral disease, which typically occurs during the cold months. Flu can cause serious illness and is often confused with the much milder common cold. Flu vaccination plays a vital role in protecting people against flu. Although safe and effective vaccines exist, not enough Europeans get vaccinated.
The Commission is encouraging EU countries to promote seasonal flu vaccination for people at risk of becoming severely ill when catching flu. Following a proposal by the Commission, the Health Ministers of the EU countries adopted on 22 December 2009 a recommendation on seasonal flu vaccination recommending that EU countries try and get 75% of the 'at risk' groups, including elderly and healthcare workers, vaccinated against seasonal flu by 2015.

Antimicrobial agents, such as antibiotics, have dramatically reduced the number of deaths from previously widespread and frequently fatal infectious diseases. However, notably due to the inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine, these gains are now jeopardized with the emergence and spread of resistant microbes. This leads to failure to respond to treatment and greater risk of death.
To address this threat the Commission elaborated a Community strategy against antimicrobial resistance. A Council Recommendation is a component of this strategy requesting EU countries to put in place specific national strategies promoting the prudent use of antimicrobial agents. It also requires the Commission to report on its implementation.

The European Commission launched the European Pact for Mental Health and Well-being in June 2008. The Pact enables the EU institutions, national governments, regions and civil society organisations to work together for improving mental health.
The Pact is mainly implemented by a series of thematic conferences focussed on the pact priorities: youth, depression and suicide prevention, old people, social exclusion and mental health in workplace settings. The conferences are opportunities to build new partnerships for mental health, to identify, disseminate and encourage good practices across Europe and to present the outcomes of the successful projects on improving mental health.
The conferences also help to feed information into the European Compass for Action on Mental Health and Well-being, the Commissions database on policies, actions and good practices in mental health.

Vaccination is without doubt one of the most cost-effective public health measures available to protect citizens against infectious diseases. Too many European children are put at risk of developing severe complications from catching diseases that can be prevented with safe and effective vaccines. This is because they either do not get vaccinated at all or do not finish the complete vaccination course. Therefore, the Commission wants to support EU countries to ensure that as many children as possible receive the main childhood vaccines.
To this end, in 2011, the Commission plans to issue a proposal for a Council recommendation on childhood vaccination. The Council recommendation will seek a firm political commitment from Member States to step up efforts at increasing and maintaining a very high childhood vaccination coverage for priority diseases which are preventable through vaccination.

Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are among the most important causes of disability in the elderly. In the context of the ageing of the EU population, these diseases constitute a priority for action for the Commission. Accordingly, further to the adoption of a European initiative in 2009, the EU is supporting national efforts and helping to tackle the main problems posed by Alzheimer's disease and dementias.
In particular, the European initiative encourages exchange of best practices in epidemiology, early diagnosis and detection, treatment and care. Additionally it helps to better coordinate research in this field.