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Working
Groups
Three expert Working
Groups support the work of
the Forum and the Steering
Committee. The task of the
Working Groups is to consider
how to make progress on
information to patients,
pricing policies and relative
effectiveness assessments.
The role of the Working
Groups is to provide expert
advice on information to
patients, pricing and
relative effectiveness. The
Working Groups are composed
of representatives of the
Member States and the
stakeholders. Working Groups
are chaired jointly by
DG
Enterprise & Industry
and by
DG Health
and Consumer Protection.
Working Group on
Information to
Patients
The aim of the Working Group is to advise the Commission on ways to
improve the quality of, and access to, information on authorised
medicines and related health areas to European patients. This will
supplement the key role of health professionals in providing
information to patients on medicines and health issues more generally.
Patients are increasingly faced with different information, provided by
multiple parties with differing objectives and sent through multiple
channels (e.g., the internet). This initiative will focus on disease
information, electronic and non-electronic dissemination of information
and the availability of supporting information in the healthcare
environments (such as pharmacies and hospitals).
 Minutes of the meetings"Information to Patients"
Working Group on Pricing
The key task of this Working Group is to examine pricing and
reimbursement mechanisms to support Member States fulfilling their
commitment towards the G10 recommendations, as well as towards the
public health objectives of offering an equal access to medicines at
an affordable overall cost. Several factors have generated significant
changes in the pricing and reimbursement mechanisms of most Member
States during the last years: raising expenditure on medicines,
inequity of access to medicines in Europe, the call for early access
to innovative medicines. This Working Group aims to identify, explore
and exchange alternative mechanisms that can help Member States answer
these different challenges. It will be up to each Member State to see
how to apply these mechanisms..
Minutes of the meetings "Pricing"
Working Group on Relative Effectiveness
The Working Group on Relative Effectiveness aims to support Member States apply relative
effectiveness systems in order to allow containment of pharmaceutical costs as well as a fair
reward for innovation. Relative effectiveness assessment systems are relatively new for many
Member States and rather complex. Nevertheless, the outcome of relative effectiveness assessments
is promising as they will help allow identify the most valuable medicines, both in terms of
clinical efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and will help set a fair price for these medicines.
The Working Group will bring experiences of different Member States and of industry together in
order to further develop this promising field.
Minutes of the meetings"Relative Effectiveness"
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