European Medicines Agency (EMA) is glad to announce that annual report of 2017 activities involving patients, consumers, healthcare professionals and academics has now been published.
As EMA prepares for its relocation and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the Agency launched the first phase of its business continuity plan (BCP) in 2017. As a result work in some areas has been reprioritised, suspended or postponed to resource Brexit preparedness activities and safeguard core activities. This approach to BCP has enabled EMA to maintain an effective level of stakeholder engagement in 2017 and underlines our commitment to better public health. This report charts the progress made in several key areas.
To comply with the restrictions of the BCP, the activities of the Patients and Consumers Working Party (PCWP) and Healthcare Professional Working Party (HCPWP) have been better aligned. A joint work plan for 2018/2019 was drafted in collaboration with members from each working party. Priorities within this work plan have been reorganised in order to cope with the challenges ahead; however it still remains in accordance with the work programme to 2020 of EMA and the common strategy of the European regulatory network.