New ESIP Paper on shortages of Medical Devices and PPE

In light of the lessons learned from COVID-19, ESIP welcomes and supports the reinforced European commitment to secure continuous supply of medicines, medical devices (MD) and personal protective equipment (PPE). In our recently adopted position paper we outline proposals for securing supply of MD and PPE, building upon our position on medicines shortages and taking stock of the measures specific to MD in the legislative proposals on Building an EU Health Union.

One of the preconditions to secure access to and delivery of healthcare in Europe is the availability of high quality and safe medicinal products and medical devices (MD). ESIP welcomes the Commission’s focus on availability in the context of both the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe and the project for a European Health Union; the Parliament’s report on shortages of medicines and medical devices; and the forthcoming Council Conclusions on Supporting Sustainable, Equitable and Universal Access to Medicines and Medical Devices.

As input to this discussion, ESIP reiterates some of the recommendations from its position on preventing and managing medicines shortages and proposes a number of actions targeted to medical devices with a view to

  • strengthening the monitoring and reporting system for available stocks and possible shortages of MD and PPE,
  • establishing a common European stockpiling system,
  • further developing the existing framework for joint procurement in order to maximise Member States’ options to participate,
  • establishing a technical and legal framework for scaling up production of essential MD and PPE,
  • promoting the mutual recognition of medical devices via a coordinated approach based on guidance from the new EU network of reference laboratories under the supervision of the ECDC.

Find out more in our press release and read our position paper here.