Laws about eHealth

At the 2007 eHealth Conference, representatives of European Union Member States and Members of the European Economic Area adopted a common Declaration. They agreed to pursue close interaction and collaboration in the area of cross-border electronic health services throughout Europe.

Ministers of the European Union (EU) Member States and accession and candidate countries, European Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries and other countries adopted a Declaration on eInclusion which will provide political guidance for future action.

Coordinated action by EU Member States is needed to make information and communication technologies (ICTs) more accessible to all, and particularly to people with disabilities and some older persons. In its Communication on “Electronic Accessibility” (eAccessibility), the Commission calls upon Member States to do more to promote EU e-Accessibility initiatives in a concerted approach and to encourage uptake by industry.

The European Commission’s view on how to translate principles agreed by UN Member States in Geneva in December 2003 into action to create a worldwide information society are set out in the Commission Communication issued on July 14,2004. This Communication outlines priorities and proposes actions for the second phase of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), which will flesh out a plan of action agreed in Geneva and is to culminate in a WSIS summit meeting in Tunis from 16 to 18 November 2005. Future WSIS work should focus on creating the right policy environment for information society technology applications to flourish, accelerating the take-up of proven applications, e.g. for e-government, e-health, and e-learning, and promoting research in this area. Unfinished work from Geneva on internet governance and financing measures to bridge the digital divide must also be completed.

This action plan addresses the crucial role of new technologies and new ways of delivering health care in improving access to, quality and effectiveness of care. The action-plan takes a twin track approach: making the most of new information and communication technologies in the health sector and better integrating a range of e-Health policies and activities. In practice, this means making people and governments more aware of the benefits and opportunities of e-Health; making a reality of interoperable health care information systems, on-line and digital patient records; new services such as teleconsultation and e-prescribing. This action plan focuses on specific actions to bring this about by the end of the decade

On 15 July 2003 the Council adopted a Resolution on "Building social and human capital in the knowledge society: learning, work, social cohesion and gender".