Joint purchasing of vaccines and medicines becomes a reality in the EU

The European Commission today approved a Joint Procurement Agreement, which will enable all European Union countries to procure pandemic vaccines and other medical countermeasures as a group, rather than individually.

Joint procurement enables EU member states to ensure that pandemic vaccines and medicines are available in sufficient quantities and at a correct price should a cross border health threat emerge. The mechanism will benefit all EU countries, in particular the ones which encountered difficulties in purchasing vaccines developed for the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. 27 EU countries have declared their intention to sign the Agreement. The Joint Procurement Agreement is voluntary, and will enter into force two weeks after it has been signed by a third of participating member states (10 countries) and the Commission.

European Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg said: "Joint procurement of pandemic vaccines and other medical countermeasures is a key achievement of our work to protect citizens from serious cross-border threats to health. Through joint procurement all member states, big and small, can be better prepared for future health threats: they will be able to provide their citizens with the necessary medicines and to obtain them under better conditions than in the past. I call on all member states to sign the Joint Procurement Agreement as soon as possible so that we can proceed to the first procurement of pandemic vaccines."