Takeaways from the address by Birgit Schuhbauer, AESGP president, during the AESGP Reception in the European Parliament on 8 October 2019
A time of change and transformation
Significant developments are happening in the European Union. The new Parliament is starting the new legislative term by interviewing the new leadership of the Commission. Ms von der Leyen, the first woman to become the President of the European Commission, has described the incoming Commission as geo-political.
We were very pleased to see health recognized as a prominent issue for the European Union in the mission letter to Ms Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health. During her hearing and preliminary meetings, she has proven to be a great health advocate and inspiring leader. We very much look forward to working with her and her team in advancing responsible self-care enabling citizens to take better care of their health needs and contribute to the sustainability of European health care systems.
Moving the self-care agenda forward
At AESGP, we are starting the new legislative term with a renewed Strategy. It shall guide us over the next 4 years to embrace changes and move the self-care agenda forward.
Self-care products (namely non-prescription medicines, self-care medical devices and food supplements) represent a significant push towards new and greater self-efficacy, autonomy and engagement in health for individuals. Self-care offers an untapped potential to free public resource for governments. We must act and position self-care as the true first step in healthcare if we are to address appropriately the rising burden of chronic diseases, aging population and scarce public resources.
Because it is in our DNA, AESGP will continue to proactively shape the regulatory, legislative, political and economic framework where the self-care industry operates. We will focus on non-prescription medicines, self-care medical devices and food supplements. We will build on cross-category expertise that is our added value/ at the heart of our mission. We shall continue to build trust in self-care and in our Industry, and remain accountable to our stakeholders. Finally, we seize the opportunity to focus intently on strengthening and developing a holistic network encompassing all relevant stakeholders and serve as a platform to our Member Associations.
Looking forward
This week we have launched a new website for AESGP and have refreshed our visual identity. With this change, we aspire to become a go-to source on self-care in Europe.
Our video “What is self-care”, a reminder that the value of self-care is inherent and its importance undeniable, invites you to advance responsible self-care together with us. By enabling citizens to take better care of their health needs, we can all contribute to the sustainability of European health care systems.
We begin the new political term well prepared and look forward to working with members of the European Parliament, European Commission and European Agencies.