Although the European Union (EU) and its Member States are committed to universal and equitable access to healthcare, many patients in Europe still suffer from the inequalities in medicines availability and affordability. This is particularly the case in Eastern European countries.

To improve access to medicines, strong government policy is needed. And civil society plays an instrumental role in ensuring that this policy is effective, fair and transparent.

To equip civil society organisations in Eastern EU countries with the knowledge and skills they need to influence medicines policy, Health Action International offers free workshops on EU Medicines Policy and Access to Medicines. The workshop is geared towards participants from civil society, health and consumer organisations, as well as academics, journalists and policy-makers. It enables participants to identify and discuss constructive strategies and tactics to create positive change in medicines policy at both the national and EU levels.
–       On this new Workshops page, can you also insert a grey box that contains the agenda for the workshops? Here is the text for the box.
WORKSHOP ELEMENTS

Welcome and introduction of participants (30 minutes)

EU medicines policy and access to medicines (90 minutes)
·         Access to medicines in Europe (situation, inequalities, policy options)
·         Discussion about policy regulations and best practices on pricing and reimbursement (including the role of the EU and Member States)
·         Discussion about HAI recommendations

In-country situation – open discussion (80 minutes)
·         Discussion about the current access to medicines situation in [country]
·         Identification of topics to work on as civil society

Advocacy skills session (90 minutes)
·         Why civil society organisations need to be engaged
·         How to achieve a change / What skills are needed?

Next steps – group exercise (60 minutes)
·         What can be done on access to medicines regarding the specificity of the region?
·         Reinforcing and coordination action

Conclusion and evaluation (15 minutes)