Patients and carers
On this page, you will find information on the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) activities that are most relevant to patients and carers, including news and events.
Estonian is available via eTranslation, the European Commission's machine translation service.
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You can contribute to EMA's work by responding to our public consultations.
Learn more about how patients and carers are actively involved in EMA's work.
Featured information for patients and carers
EMA chairing One Health task force
In 2026, EMA is chairing a cross-agency task force implementing the One Health approach in Europe. One Health aims to enable the EU and its Member States to better prevent, predict, detect and respond to health threats.
Report on EMA-HMA medicine repurposing pilot
A report is available on a pilot that provided tailored scientific advice to not-for-profit organisations and academics on repurposing authorised medicines for new indications. The report contains findings and recommendations from the pilot. EMA and Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA) carried out this pilot between 2021 and 2024.
EMA communication activities: 2024 survey results
We asked stakeholders for feedback on our external communication activities via a bi-annual survey disseminated in May 2024. The results are available in a newly-published report. They help us to establish baselines and targets to measure progress, analyse trends and address areas for improvement.
Interchangeability of biosimilars
A 'questions and answers' document is available for healthcare professionals, patients and other stakeholders to further address issues related to the interchangeability of biosimilars in EU countries. This complements the information that EMA and the Heads of Medicines Agencies provided in a joint statement on this topic, in September 2022.
Guidance on medicine shortages
Guidance is available on the actions that patients and healthcare professionals can take to help prevent and manage shortages of human medicines in the EU. An infosheet and infocards are also available to summarise the recommendations in the guidance.
Involving patients in EMA advice to medicine developers
An article by EMA staff in the journal Frontiers in Medicine highlights the added value of involving patients in delivering scientific advice to medicine developers on their development plans.
Latest news
United for Health: EMA in WorldPride 2026
Science and health belong to everyone
ETF recommends updating COVID-19 vaccines to target XFG variant
Updated vaccines will help maintain protection against disease as virus continues to evolve
Meeting highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) 18-21 May 2026
Eight new medicines recommended for approval; another 13 medicines recommended for extension of their therapeutic indications
First medicine to treat rare uncontrolled growth of body tissues
Vijoice addresses an unmet medical need for patients with severe or life-threatening PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS) disorders
Publications of interest
Video: 25 years of EMA engagement with patients and healthcare professionals
Watch our short video to see how our interactions with patients and healthcare professionals have evolved over the last 25 years (video in English)
Video: Working for every patient in Europe
Watch our short video for a quick and easy explanation of who EMA is and what it does. (video in English, with subtitles in 24 different languages).