The Minister for Health and Active Ageing, Jo Etienne Abela, is in Brussels participating in the Council of Health Ministers of the EU Member States. Among the topics discussed during these meetings are youth tobacco use, a strategic plan for the prevention of cardiovascular conditions, and equal access to medicines, a government statement said.

Regarding the act on critical medicinal products, which aims to ensure equal access to innovative medicines for all EU citizens, Minister Abela stated that this document is of significant importance, particularly in light of the fact that the European Council has identified the safeguarding of medicine supply security as one of the European Union's strategic objectives.

"If we are not able to operate in accordance with what we declare, people will lose their trust in the EU," Minister Abela stressed.

In his intervention, Minister Jo Etienne Abela, while thanking the Presidency for its intensive work in advancing the discussions on the proposal within such a short timeframe, expressed his concern about the removal of Article 4. As presented by the Commission, Article 4 was intended to embed the European Council's commitment within the legislative framework. "This is a serious disappointment and amounts to a failure to deliver on what we promised our patients," Dr Abela said.

Minister Abela noted that he is disappointed by the lack of ambition regarding joint procurement of medicines. "There is clear recognition that the fragmented internal medicines market is not functioning for all Member States, especially the smaller ones. We cannot expect to address permanent and systemic problems through sporadic solutions. This is neither realistic nor fair to the hundreds of thousands of patients across the EU," the minister remarked.

On the impact of tobacco among young people, Minister Abela said that the primary priority is to prevent minors from starting to use new tobacco and nicotine products. He emphasised that young people are particularly vulnerable to nicotine addiction, with significant long-term health consequences.

He explained that flavours and social media promotion are deliberately designed to attract young audiences. "We need to act together to reduce the appeal of these products, just as we did with traditional tobacco through uniform packaging and health-oriented messaging," the minister stated.

Minister Abela noted that stronger market-access controls are necessary to ensure that only products meeting strict health criteria are sold, as well as robust regulation of marketing and social-media platforms to prevent promotions that influence minors.

"By introducing these measures collectively, the EU can take a decisive step towards reducing avoidable harm and creating a young generation that is healthy and free from addiction," Abela concluded.