European perspectives on global health: a policy glossary

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4. Europe must establish a societal dialogue for global health Consumer protection and global health Consumer protection is a critical dimension for global health action and aims to protect from risks and threats to health which are beyond the control of citizens wherever they might live or travel. In an interdependent world the mobility of goods, services and people calls for new forms of protection. It is an important signal that the <strong>European</strong> Commission has proposed to combine the public health programme with the consumer protection programme because so many public health issues are directly linked to easily accessible products in the global marketplace : food, drink, tobacco, alcohol, health care products, to name but a few. The communication from the Commission is entitled “Healthier, safer, more confident citizens” and brings together the Public Health and Consumer protection policies and programmes under one common framework. It has three joint core objectives : 1. To protect citizens from risks and threats, which are beyond the control of individuals and cannot be effectively tackled by Member States alone ( e.g. health threats, unsafe products, unfair commercial practices ). 2. To enhance the ability of citizens to take better decisions about their health and consumer interest. 3. To mainstream health and consumer policy objectives across all EU policies in order to put health and consumer issues at the centre of policy making. This approach takes into account the increasing interface between public health, the role of the modern citizen in health and the importance of the role of the market in either endangering or supporting health. It also recognises the increasing importance of trans-border and global dimensions of health and safety, and highlights the need to integrate health and consumer concerns into other Commission policies, such as the regulation of markets and citizens’ rights. Finally, it is explicit about citizen and consumer empowerment. It states : “Consumer and health organisations need active, expert and articulate voices” and gives clear indications how the Commission will support such organisations. In order to implement this joint programme the Commission has proposed a significant increase in resources. The Commission paper clearly maps out actions that need to be taken in relation to consumer protection in the Internal Market by “ensuring a common high level of protection for all EU consumers, wherever they live, travel to or buy from in the EU, from risks and threats to their safety and economic interests.” This includes : • Better understanding of consumers and markets • Better consumer protection regulation • Better enforcement, monitoring and redress • Better informed and educated consumers Such an approach reflects the many issues that also arise as consumer concerns in global health. The EU policy proposal is a breakthrough that recognises this connection in the face of the tobacco, alcohol and obesity epidemics. Policies must aim to empower consumers in ways that have not been considered before. Within Europe, consumers are active in assessing not only products that could endanger their own health or that of others, they are increasingly interested in quality comparisons within the field of health care as cross-border health increases. Newspapers and journals are developing report cards and rankings on health services and systems in order to provide the consumer with better information for informed choice and action. For example, the Euro Health Consumer Index ( EHCI ) ranks the national health care systems across the EU in areas that are important to the consumer – patients’ rights and information, waiting times for common treatments, care outcomes, customer-friendliness and access to medication. The Index is compiled from a combination of public statistics and independent research. The 2006 index describes the user-friendliness of national health care systems in all the 25 EU Member States and Switzerland. Evidence-based consumer health information is gaining increasing importance as are patient rights and patient safety within the <strong>European</strong> context. An example is the speech by Commissioner David Byrne to the <strong>European</strong> Parliament in which he called for a co-ordinated multisectoral and populationwide approach to obesity. 54 <strong>European</strong> Foundation Centre – <strong>European</strong> Partnership for Global Health
4. Europe must establish a societal dialogue for global health But new challenges are emerging as countries like China and India become global consumers – a recent study showed that China has overtaken the US in the consumption of basic agricultural and industrial goods. This means not only pressure on the country’s national resources – but also globally. The Kyoto Protocol considers China a developing nation, and it is therefore currently exempt from cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Action : Approaches to consumer protection and public health such as those spearheaded by the <strong>European</strong> Commission could gain importance as a model for global consumer safety. References <strong>European</strong> Union, Commission of the <strong>European</strong> Communities. Healthier, Safer, More Confident Citizens : a Health and Consumer Protection Strategy. COM ( 2005 ) 115 final. Brussels, 2005. Health Consumer Powerhouse. Euro Health Consumer Index 2006. Accessed on 21 May 2006. http : / / www.healthpowerhouse.com / archives / 000499.html <strong>European</strong> Commissioner David Byrne, Speech to the <strong>European</strong> Parliament : Health, Nutrition and Labelling. Brussels, 2003. Global Health Policy Glossary 55
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European perspectives on global health: a policy glossary

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