Public health: Community action programme 1999-2003 concerning rare diseases

Following on from the European Parliament's second reading, the Commission accepts, in part or in full, eleven of the Parliament's twenty amendments relating to the following areas: - directing Community action towards prevention of diseases and underlining its added value; - the need to understand rare diseases as public health warning signs; - the motivation and mobilization, in particular, of patients and health professionals; - the involvement of people with disabilities; - the use of technology to enhance the achievement of the programme's objectives and actions; - the improvement of knowledge about rare diseases and the setting up of a system of surveillance for rare diseases to ensure a rapid and effective response; - the format of the advisory committee; - the use of sources other than existing databases to develop a European information network; - a more general classification of collaboration and networking, not limited to cross-border cooperation. The Commission rejects the other 9 amendments for legal or budgetary reasons, reasons of internal consistency, because they are covered elsewhere or they are unacceptably limiting.�