NICE is the health technology assessment [HTA] agency in England, the one upon which others in many countries are modelled.  More generally, HTA is increasingly being used by governments for more than simple economic evaluation of medicines and devices, but is being used as a form of rationing of access to technologies (medicines or devices [...]

The Swedish presidency has identified a number of health priorities. I’d like to reflect on the following:
1. patient mobility directive,
2. e-health cooperation, and
3. flu.
Patient mobility adds cross-border health risk as people with diseases move around. Zoonoses, diseases caught from animals (and it is worth remembering that animals catch diseases from humans, for instance pigs have [...]

The British have raised the issue that cross-border healthcare will only benefit the few:

All EU citizens, not just the wealthy or well informed, must be able to benefit

Baroness Howarth of Breckland, of the House of Lords’ EU Committee
Is this fear or concern justified?
The whole point of enabling European citizens to have access to healthcare [...]

Resistance is futile, say some, but the spread of Community protection for European health has taken an important step forward.
Some countries will be dismayed, others relieved.  Dismay in some because prideful to the end they cannot image the likely exodus of their patients to more congenial and responsive health systems and relief in others as [...]

While it is good to see progress at the European level to deal with threats to human health that do not recognise borders, the steps that may be taken to ensure security in the name of health many lead to greater threats to civil liberties.
Integral to coordinated responses to public health threats are efforts to [...]

The Innovative Medicines Initiative seeks to put right the chaotic treatment of pharmaceutical innovation by EU member states, and will likely fail.  The goose that lays golden eggs of medical innovation is cooked to death by member state medicines policies.
Increasing the speed of product development will come to a grinding halt as member states inconsistently [...]

The good news appears to be some progress in raising the possibility of a European health system, the bad news is that apparently it is going to take a lot longer than patients in particular would like. Which brings us to the ugly truth that many member states are fiercely resisting progress on this [...]