CPME Board Meeting

At its meeting in Brussels on 27 November 2010, the Board of the Standing Committee of European Doctors adopted the following policy documents on tobacco and nicotine delivery products, professional qualifications, e-prescribing, task shifting, mental health in older people and the recognition of General Practice/Family medicine as unique specialty:

CPME Response to the public consultation on the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive 2001/37/EC: CPME 2010/106 Final

CPME is very much in favour of extending the scope of the directive in order to include novel forms or tobacco and nicotine products which have not been scientifically proven to be Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products, including ENDS (so called “electric cigarettes”) and oral tobacco.
Furthermore, CPME calls for mandatory pictorial warnings on both sides of all tobacco products packages, together with information on quit help lines.

CPME Position on nicotine delivery products including electronic systems “ENDS”: CPME 2010/104 Final

European doctors are highly concerned about the recent trends in smokeless tobacco and nicotine products, including ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems also called “electric cigarettes”), which fall into dangerous regulatory gaps. CPME therefore urges regulators to act rapidly to apply proper regulation to these products as stated in the conclusions of the WHO report1 and clearly differentiate them from Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products.
CPME moreover advocates that the use of ENDS is banned in public places by the same smoke free regulations which restrict the places in which smoking is allowed.

CPME Statement on the Evaluation of Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive 2005/36/EC: CPME 2010/125 Final

In light of the increasing coalescence of Europe, the correlation between the migration of doctors and patient safety has never been clearer. Hence, CPME endorsed the “Berlin Statement” prepared by the competent authorities for doctors, which reflects the European doctors’ concerns about language and clinical skills of migrant doctors, as well as the sharing of regulatory and disciplinary information between Member States.
CPME regards this statement as only the first step in a concerted strategy to effect necessary changes to the present system

CPME Statement on e-prescribing: CPME 2010/126 Final

Due to ever increasing patient mobility, it is paramount to look at the implications this has for cross-border care. CPME has therefore adopted a statement supporting e-prescribing which sets out the key conditions that must be met to ensure e.g. accurate identification of the parties involved and of the e-prescription in question.
CPME calls for safe and secure data systems, semantic interoperability of pharmaceutical preparations, as well as measures to ensure that the prescribed drug has a valid market authorization in the EU. CPME will continue to monitor e-prescribing pilot tests that are currently taking place across the EU and to input into policy making.

CPME Policy on Task Shifting: CPME 2010/128 Final

Patient safety, quality and continuity of care should be the underlying objective of any healthcare organization and reforms. Therefore, CPME strongly advocates that the shifting of tasks to other health professionals should only take place through consultation and in accordance with the medical profession.
Task shifting should moreover not replace interactive team work between doctors and other health professionals like nurses, physiotherapists, etc. who all make their unique contribution to the best care of the patient.

CPME Statement on Mental Health in older people: Healthy ageing: CPME 2010/105 Final

CPME calls on National Medical Associations and all European doctors to take a strong position to face Europe’s demographic changes. In order to address the growing complexity of patients needs, doctors will have to respond to multiple conditions of users in a coordinated way. Integrated care models and a multidisciplinary approach will be paramount.

Concerning the unique specialty of family medicine: CPME 2010/124 Final

At its Board meeting in November 2010, CPME reaffirmed its longstanding policy as laid down in the document CPME 2004/077 on the recognition of General Practice / Family Medicine as a unique medical specialty in Europe.

All CPME Policy documents are available at: http://www.cpme.eu/policy.php

For more information, please contact:
Birgit BEGER

CPME Secretary General

Tel.: +32 2 732 72 02

Fax: +32 2 732 73 44

e-mail: secretariat@cpme.eu

For more information about CPME, consult our website: http://www.cpme.eu

The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) is the representative organisation of European doctors through its full members, the most representative National Medical Associations of 27 countries in Europe. CPME works closely together with its other members, four National Medical Associations from associated and observer countries as well as with specialized European medical associations.
CPME aims to promote the highest standards of medical training and medical practice in order to achieve the highest quality of health care for all patients in Europe. CPME is also concerned with the promotion of public health, the relationship between patients and doctors and the free movement of doctors within the European Union.