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Animals Need Medicines Too!
The
health and welfare of animals throughout the EU - be
they pets, working companions or farm animals - are
in the hands of European Parliamentarians.
The long-awaited Commission package which will
address the crisis in the availability of veterinary
medicines will be debated by the Parliament this autumn.
The reform package is a good starting point,
but it needs to go further.
IFAH-Europe
asks
MEPs to use their voice to make the reform of the veterinary
medicines regulatory framework a successful one.
The original framework
has been developed over the past 20 years and the reform
package aims to correct its unintended consequences.
The existing system has led to a drastic reduction
in the availability of animal medicines, even for common
animals, like dogs and horses.
Some less common species, like ducks, have become
"quasi-invisible," with hardly any medicines available
to treat them.
This situation, and the rules that inadvertently
created it, need to be fixed.
The Commission's
proposals are a good starting point but they do not
go far enough and are not always workable.
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Animal
medicines need an approval system that reflects
the real world
The Commission has proposed incentives,
for example, data protection, to encourage companies
to develop products for less-common species.
But all new innovation needs encouraging
- not just those for more species.
Furthermore, the proposal includes one unrealistic
restriction that means, in the real world, the scheme
will never work. A good idea is thus rendered useless.
The Parliament can put this right.
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Medicines
at the right time in the right place
Effective animal
care means medicines available where and when they
are needed.
Further unnecessary restrictions will reduce
access to medicines for treating sick animals and
preventing disease and suffering.
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Cooperating
for animal welfare
Market realities
mean that often companies need to work together
to discover, develop and market new products.
This cooperation needs to be encouraged.
Penalising this or making it more difficult
to do so will not contribute to animal welfare.
IFAH-Europe
wants to work with MEPs of all parties to make the veterinary
medicine reform package a successful one.
Find
out more:
The
right medicines for the right animals -- exceptions
should remain exceptional
Ongoing in-use monitoring protects human and animal
health!
The medicines availability crisis on the ground
The patients - animal populations in the EU
Healthcare Markets
The pictures
Why the Review?
Press
Review
Animals
Need Medicines Too! (The Parliament
Magazine, 10 September 2001)
Animals
Need Medicines Too! (Rapporteur
Magazine, 03 September 2001)
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