Patients Campaign at the European Parliament
Our European Parliament Election Campaign Exhibition closed on 20 March 2014 on a positive note. We were able to bring our campaign to the heart of the European democracy as many Members of the European Parliament (MEP) and/or candidates for the next elections signed our Manifesto “Patient + Participation = Our Vote for a Healthier Europe”.
We were extremely honoured and thankful that MEP Dagmar Roth-Behrendt (S&D, Germany) hosted our exhibition (pictured above). Member of the Parliament since 1989, MEP Roth-Behrendt said she did not host many exhibitions, but that she believed in this one.
“This campaign is absolutely crucial to make national and EU decision-makers understand that health policy needs to be further developed. Patients are often the weakest part of the chain while they can contribute to make health systems more effective”, she said.
The exhibition was also organised under the auspices of the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union. We were very pleased to welcome Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis (pictured below) to the exhibition on Tuesday 18 March 2014.
"From 22 to 25 May, we, as European citizens, will decide on the future of Europe. I support this campaign because it is important we also decide for a ‘Healthier Europe’, where patients are part of the policy decisions towards making health systems more effective and accessible to all of our citizens,” he said.
With this exhibition, EPF encouraged the Members of the European Parliament going for re-election to sign the EPF Manifesto and therefore commit to including a patient perspective in their work for the new parliamentary session. Those not standing are also important allies of the patient’s movement and we encourage their continuing support too, in their future endeavours.
All MEP supporters of our campaign will be listed on our website and will have the opportunity to be interviewed to appear on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/eupatient).
Strong support from decision-makers is crucial to give strength to our message and we warmly encourage everyone to commit to our campaign by filling this online form: www.eu-patient.eu/whatwedo/EPFCampaign2014Elections/I-support-EPF-Campaign/.
Supporting this campaign means that, when we will cast our votes on 22-25 May 2014, we will be confident to vote for patients' friendly candidates who work towards achieving a healthier Europe, as outlined in our Manifesto “Patients + Participation = Our Vote for a Healthier Europe”.
The political momentum resulting from our campaign will help our future advocacy work and the advancement of our rights in the next parliamentary mandate.
“We represent a high proportion of voters in the next EU elections. We hope our voice will be heard by decision-makers and that they will add a patients’ perspective in their work,” said Mr. Anders Olauson, President of the European Patients’ Forum.
For more information, please contact EPF Communication Officer, Cynthia Bonsignore, at Cynthia.bonsignore@eu-patient.eu, +32 (0)2 280 23 35.