Informal Health Council

Tuesday 17th July 2012 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anne Milton)]

EU Health Ministers met in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 10 and 11 July. The United Kingdom was represented at official level. The agenda included discussions on organ donation and transplantation, the health work force, and health security.

The meeting began with a discussion on organ donation and transplantation. This discussion was followed by a lunch debate on the health work force, centring on the priorities outlined in the EU’s action plan for the EU health work force. There was also broad consensus that the EU could support the pursuit of these priorities in member states by facilitating the sharing of experiences and best practices, but that member states alone were competent to define their own work force strategies.

Following presentations from the presidency, the Commission, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Greece, health security was also discussed, in particular risk and crisis communication strategies.