EU Self-medication Moves "need Clear Standards"

A European Union policy on self-medication is not possible without a regulatory framework setting clear standards for non-prescription medicines, according to European Commissioner Padraig Flynn, who holds the health portfolio within the Commission.

Speaking last week in Brussels at the first joint symposium of the Standing Committee of Medical Doctors in Europe (CP), the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union and the the European proprietary medicines manufacturers Association (AESGP), he said the existing regulatory framework must be further developed, and the complementary roles of doctors and pharmacists reinforced. "This is now a more urgent need than ever before, as our health care systems are subject to ever-increasing demands," he said.

Directive 26/92/EEC, which sets out the classification criteria for over-the-counter drugs, has reduced differences between member states but the level of harmonization is still unsatisfactory and clear procedures to transfer medicines from prescription to over-the-counter status are needed. "The European Commission is aware of this fact and is considering an appropriate response," he said.