Southern European Countries Sign Cooperation Agreement on Access to Medicines
Six southern European countries; Malta, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Italy; have signed a cooperation agreement today (9th May 2017) in Valletta to increase access to medicines and other health technologies. Other countries can join the group at a later stage.
The six southern European countries committed “to cooperate in a fair, supportive and transparent manner,” the Portuguese health ministry said in a statement.
This is the latest bloc of countries collaborating to negotiate and eventually buy expensive medicines as a bloc, after BENELUXA — which includes Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria, and ROBU — Romania and Bulgaria.
Cyprus will host a meeting of the committee in Nicosia with the participation of three representatives from each country, Cyprus Mail reported.