3d International Congress on Pediatric Nursing
August 24-25, 2007 Athens - Greece

The Scientific Programme of the Congress includes abstracts by distinguished pediatric nurses who share with us their knowledge and experiences regarding the care of children, young people and their families. A large number of educational and scientific events will be held during the Congress on Pediatric Nursing that will contribute to improving the care of children and young people. FEPI President, Prof. Loredana Sasso will address the Congress on the issue of ethical principles, and the Code of Conduct for European Nursing.

http://www.pediatricnursing2007.com/

A French presidential plane carrying the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor took off from Tripoli in the early hours of Tuesday (24 July 2007), bringing the group safely back to their homes in Bulgaria after more than eight years spent in prison.

French First Lady Cecilia Sarkozy and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner arrived in Tripoli on Sunday (22 July) to hold a series of secretive talks to secure the repatriation of the health professionals. They were accompanied by Claude Guéant, a top aide to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In a statement, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Nicolas Sarkozy said they "salute the humanitarian gesture of Libya and of its highest leader", Moammar Kadhafi, adding that they "commit themselves to do everything to help the AIDS-affected children" in Libya.

Barroso and Sarkozy also expressed their "profound gratitude to the Emir and the State of Qatar whose mediation has allowed for this happy solution".

However, Sarkozy's personal involvement in the nurses release has caused tensions with Brussels, which had been steering negotiations with Libya since 2004. Commission officials had not been informed when Sarkozy's wife, Cecilia, first arrived in Tripoli on 12 July to offer assistance in the negotiations.

But in the second and decisive visit ten days later, Cecilia appeared flanked by Ferrero-Waldner, suggesting that Paris and Brussels had mended their differences and stepped up co-ordination.

"This solution would have not been possible without the efforts and the determination of the European Commission, in particular the member of the Commission in charge of external relations, Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner throughout the whole process," the Commission said in a statement that also praised "the personal commitment of Ms Cecilia Sarkozy".

Libya has requested a complete normalisation of relations with the EU in exchange for the nurses’ liberation, Reuters reported on Monday (23 July), citing an official source in Libya. The French president, who has been championing talks for a 'Mediterranean Union', is said to be scheduling an official visit to Libya on Wednesday.

The European Commission's Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General (DG SANCO) has opened a call for expression of interest for the Stakeholder Dialogue Group that will close on 27 July 2007.

The Group's objective is to help SANCO improve its contacts with stakeholders. The participants will be selected on the basis of their overall working experience in the field of DG SANCO consultation processes. The group will include 20 experts from different policy areas and across Member States.

The decision to establish the Group is a recommendation issued by the Peer Review Group established in June 2006 to advise DG SANCO on how to review its experience on stakeholder involvement and how to identify best practices in the existing consultation system.

The primary task of the Stakeholder Dialogue Group will be to ensure that DG SANCO stakeholder involvement procedures are better suited to fit stakeholders' needs and to support mainstreaming best practice in DG SANCO's consultations.

Furthermore, additional issues will be discussed by the Stakeholder Dialogue Group: the definition of stakeholder representativeness, stakeholder negotiating power, more flexible consultation deadlines the role of national platforms (especially in new Member States) as well as the role of Member States in going local.

For further information, please visit:

http://www.sanco-stakeholderinvolvement.eu/

The European Commission is asking professional associations in the EU to provide information on their codes of conduct, either existing or in preparation, and to give their opinions on how best to develop codes of conduct at European level. Encouraging the development of such codes of conduct could contribute to the improvement of quality of service, which is an important aspect of the Services Directive, due to be implemented in Member States by end 2009. The consultation, which is in the form of an online questionnaire, is open until 30 July 2007.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?
reference=IP/07/753&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

As nearly ten Europeans waiting for an organ transplant die every day, Brussels is set to table a proposal on how to boost organ donations – something currently highlighted by a controversial Dutch reality TV show in which viewers send text messages to a dying woman to help her decide which of three patients should receive her kidney.

EU health commissioner Markos Kyprianou will today unveil a new plan proposing to "promote donations from living donors" as well as to "establish efficient systems" – for example specially trained medical staff – for identifying those that could become organ donors upon their death.

Currently, the 27-nation bloc faces a severe shortage of organ donors, as demand for transplants is growing faster than the donor pool. Nearly 40,000 people are now on waiting lists, while 15 to 30 percent of patients usually die while waiting for a heart, liver or lung transplant.

In response, Mr Kyprianou's paper suggests creating a European organ donor card which would make it easier to identify people willing to donate organs after their death. According to Brussels, 81 percent of Europeans support the use of such a card.

But the main task remains how to close the gap between being willing to donate and actually donating one's organs, as final national donation rates do not always mirror the percentage of people who have previously declared themselves happy to give organs in these countries.

In 2006, 56 percent of Europeans said they were ready to donate their organs after their death, however, family refusals to donate the organs of their deceased relatives fluctuate from six to 42 percent.

Brussels says the more the somewhat taboo issue is discussed within a family, the higher the willingness to donate. Today, only 41 percent of Europeans say they have talked about it with their relatives.

"The most cost-effective means of increasing public willingness to donate seems to be improving the knowledge of health professionals and the media about transplantation issues," the commission's paper states.

Row over Dutch reality TV show

As EU-US experts discussed potential areas for transatlantic co-operation on eHealth, the healthcare IT industry urged governments to pave the way for a definitive change in EU healthcare.

www.euractiv.com/en/health/businesses-urge-ehealth-paradigm-shift/article-163689

ALDE Campaign for EU Patient Rights

After calling for a European Charter of Patient Rights last 15 March at the occasion of the vote by the European Parliament of resolution - P6_TA-PROV(2007)0073 – on Community action on the provision of cross-border healthcare, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) is now launching a campaign on EU Patient Rights.

In the words of that political group:

“We need to ensure timely medical treatment of good quality for patients as close as possible to their home. But when necessary, patients should have the choice to go to another Member State and to be able to benefit from the achievements of European science and technology for their health.

Patients make choices already. We should be able to create a safe and empowering environment and good governance to ensure their rights.”

You can access this petition via the following website:

http://www.alde.eu/index.php?id=192

European Parliament resolution on Community action on
the provision of cross-border healthcare

On last 15 March, during its plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution on Community action on the provision of cross-border healthcare in which MEP's welcomed the European Commission’s initiative to launch a consultation procedure regarding Community action on heath services.

MEP's have pointed out “that the aspects of cross-border healthcare cover both patient mobility, the mobility of healthcare professionals and the provision of healthcare from another country. The resolution also points out that the ECJ (European Court of Justice) rulings specifically address the problem relating to patients’ rights to seek treatment abroad, and subsequently get reimbursed by their national health insurance schemes. “

They have also urged the European Commission “to develop common principles and basic guidelines for healthcare in order to guarantee patient safety and consider that the EU must play an important role in improving the availability of information for patients on cross-border mobility by coordinating cooperation between Member States in this field”. The European Parliament considers at the same time “that patient mobility must always be a matter for free patient choice and that no pressure must be brought to bear on patients’ freedom of choice”.

 The text also stresses the need to ensure patient safety in all circumstances regardless of where and how healthcare is provided. MEPs call for clarity on the responsibilities between authorities in supervising healthcare providers and for effective information exchange between national authorities on the registration and disciplinary status of health care professionals.  The European Parliament considers in fact necessary to create a mechanism for appeals on malpractice in cross-border healthcare.  The MEPs point out the necessity for common classification of the health services in the EU.

 MEPs consider of utmost importance to incorporate in the legal framework a mechanism for data collection and exchange of information between national authorities on healthcare providers. In this context, a network of European Centres of Reference would bring considerable benefits to the treatment of diseases. They also welcome the inclusion into the legal framework the obligation for national authorities exchange registration and disciplinary information about healthcare professionals engaging in cross-border healthcare.

 The Parliamentarians call on the Commission to pay special attention to the provision of information to patients on their rights and obligations and to the introduction of appropriate provisions in its legislative proposal.

You can find the full text on the following website:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides
/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2007-0073+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN