Ensuring that Europe's citizens are safe and healthy, improving patient safety and fighting antimicrobial resistance requires action across all sectors of government and society, both at national and EU level.
Unsafe medical practices and inadequate care cause infections, injuries and death. Poor patient safety is a serious growing global public health threat. It is also a considerable economic burden on member states' limited health resources. A large proportion of adverse events - both in the hospital sector and in primary care - are preventable.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that in Europe, on average, healthcare-associated infections affect one out of 20 hospitalised patients, and that these infections cause 37,000 deaths each year.
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Piernicola Pedicini, who is responsible for the dossier, said in his report that in Europe, between eight and 12 per cent of patients suffer from adverse events while receiving healthcare in hospital, and that half of these could be avoided. This is echoed in the Commission's 2008 technical report on improving patient safety in the EU.
I have worked closely with the rapporteur and my MEP colleagues to reach a compromise for the final points in this report, the results of which were shown in plenary when it was voted by a large majority.
Our work considered two growing threats Europe currently faces. First, antimicrobial resistance is an increasingly serious threat to public health, given that it interferes with the effective prevention and treatment of many infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.
Second, patient safety is another major concern, due to unsafe medical practices and inadequate care, causing infections, injuries and death, and affecting hundreds of millions of patients worldwide each year.
The Council's June 2009 recommendations on patient safety revealed that member states were at different stages in the development and implementation of effective and comprehensive patient safety strategies.
The Council called for the creation of a framework to stimulate policy development and future action in and between member states, in order to address the EU's key patient safety issues.
Now, six years on, progress has been uneven among the member states. In fact in some countries, the implementation of the Council's recommendations has slowed, due to financial constraints resulting from the economic crisis.
At the same time, the Commission, in its October 2007 white paper titled, 'Together for health: A strategic approach for the EU 2008- 2013', identified patient safety as an area requiring action, and offered its support to member states to react with concrete steps.
As one of Parliament's shadow rapporteurs on improving patient safety, I was invited to attend several workshops and seminars on the topic, as well as on healthcare, and how healthcare-associated infections drive costs up and are a burden for national healthcare systems.
Studies have shown that extra time spent in hospital, infections contracted there, litigation costs, disability, loss of productivity and medical expenses, cost some countries billions annually.
Some of these costs are a heavy burden, especially for low-income states that have a limited health services budget. Therefore, there are clear economic benefits to improving patient safety.
Substantial increases in healthcare costs can make it difficult to balance a budget. But at the same time, healthcare benefits are pivotal in attracting and retaining qualified staff.
In my capacity as former President of the Romanian National House of Health Insurance, I have seen the impact of increased healthcare-related costs on budgets.
Governments must closely monitor this spending, and choose an approach that uses the jurisdiction's purchasing power, shares costs appropriately, encourages good consumer behaviour, promotes health and support governmental jurisdictions' ability to hire and retain a highly qualified and motivated workforce.
Beyond national specificities and inequity in access to healthcare, the soundness and development of health services should be a top priority for policymakers. It is essential for the population, and the financing of health services is a key component of public budgets.
In order to achieve patient safety objectives, member states should ensure a fully comprehensive approach, while also considering the most appropriate elements that have a real impact on the prevalence and burden of adverse events.