V Today, a Council of Health Ministers meeting took place in Brussels, with the participation of Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. Vladimír Lengvarský and State Secretary of the MZ SR Róbert Babeľa represented the Slovak Republic at the Council. The Director of EMA Emer Cook and the Director of ECDC Andrea Ammon also took part. The main theme of the ministerial discussion was the war conflict in Ukraine, focusing on the possibility of funding healthcare and treatment of patients from Ukraine from EU financial instruments, as well as an effective system for transferring patients from border states to other EU MS. The debate also focused on ways to recognise the qualifications of UA health professionals.
In her speech, Commissioner for Health underlined that more than 4 million people had to leave Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as "UA') but they are not just numbers but personal stories. It thanked the countries neighbouring Ukraine for their solidarity and also for the role of civil society and representatives of the private sector. The EC works with WHO to set up sorting mushrooms. She highlighted the need for vaccination against communicable diseases- against TB and measles. HERA has provided 300,000 vaccines against tetanus and diphtheria, of which 70 000 will go to Slovakia and Czech Republic. It also underlined the importance of women's health and mental health for UA refugees.
The director of the EMA stated that they have activated the drug availability groups in Ukraine and Member States in the context of the UA crisis. There is currently an increasing demand for medicinal products intended for the treatment of UA patients. The European Medicines Agency supports the use of national exemptions for the supply of UA medicinal products. The participants were also informed that citizens are supplied with iodine tablets, and the European Medicines Agency is monitoring this demand.

In this context, PL, SK, HU, RO, CZ, BG, HR, EE, LV, LT, SI have submitted a joint statement to the Council with a view to establishing a separate fund at EU level for the financing of the health and treatment of UA citizens in EU Member States. In his speech, Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský identified funding for the provision of healthcare and treatment for Ukrainian citizens in the EU Member States, which will require considerable financial resources. I appreciate the creation of an EU mechanism within the EWRS (Rapid Alert and Response System) for patient transfer. We need an effective system at international level to respond to possible large numbers of patients for the future, said Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský. Most Member States thanked the UA border countries for their efforts and for their readiness to provide intra-European solidarity in patient transfer. I am pleased that the efforts of the border Member States, as well as the Commissioner for Health, have been highly appreciated during the debate. Colleagues were ready to provide intra-European solidarity in patient transfer, but they called for a sustainable solution, said Minister Lengvarsky. Minister Lengvarsky also welcomed the Commission's intention to establish Triage hubs in border Member States. Lengvarský also informed about the creation of a transit hub in Košice, where there is hospital, but also outpatient care for refugees from UA. SR has been involved in CECIS, where it can accept patients according to the possibility of Slovakia, in addition to receiving cancer patients. All Member States have condemned the attack on the UA. Several countries appreciated the Commission's Communication to Ukraine, which focuses on providing access to healthcare for refugees from the UA and highlights the established mechanism for intra-EU patient transfer within the Early Warning Response System (EWRS), where 10,000 beds are made available in UA hospitals.
The Commission announced a package of 500 million in terms of EC funding. EUR 420 million for activities related to refugees for primary aid, as well as the internal funds and flexibility available for the use of cohesion funds.
The second important topic of the debate was the COVID-19 vaccines, where ministers focused on the future direction of the EU vaccination strategy and the strengthening of vaccine donation. The subject of the discussion was also the 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The Commissioner considers the EU vaccination strategy to be a historic success, but we must be aware that over 100 million. EU citizens are still unvaccinated. The EC will do its utmost to allow Member States to donate surplus vaccines.
The ECDC Director informed that the EU vaccination rate has reached 73% of the adult population but is no longer rising, and that is why we need to focus on increasing the EU vaccination rate as well as on the arrival of new options. The director of the EMA stressed that they were working on updating the composition of vaccines. We've now approved 8 therapists at Covid-19.
Several countries, including Slovakia, underlined the need to find a long-term solution to the EU vaccination strategy. Minister Lengvarsky proposed to work on a stable EU vaccination campaign in view of the changing public perception of COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination as such.