The new EU health and Consumer Protection Strategy

On 6 April, the Commission adopted a strategy and programme proposal setting out a number of ambitious targets for EU health policy from 2007 until 2013.

The strategy and programme proposal brings EU health and consumer protection policies together under a single framework. This will give more weight and visibility to two policies at the heart of citizens' concerns that share important objectives such as health protection and citizens' information. It will also develop positive synergies in terms of economies of scale and streamlining of administrative procedures.

The aim is to pursue a set of common health and consumer protection objectives: protecting citizens from risks and threats; increasing citizens' ability to take better decisions about their health and consumer interests; and mainstreaming health and consumer policy objectives across all Community policies.

As regards health, the new programme reinforces the three strands of the existing Public Health Programme: to gather and provide information; to monitor threats; and to tackle key health determinants. In addition, the programme creates three new strands: to deliver an efficient response to health threats; to help prevent diseases; and to foster cooperation between health systems. Finally, in line with the Lisbon agenda, bridging health inequalities and addressing ageing will be priority themes.