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11 min read 12th December 2017

Public Health and Economic Implications of the United Kingdom Exiting the EU and the Single Market

This report explores the consequences of the exit of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) on public health in the UK and in the EU. A new OHE Consulting report explores the consequences of the exit of…

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This report explores the consequences of the exit of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) on public health in the UK and in the EU.

A new OHE Consulting report explores the consequences of the exit of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU), ‘Brexit’, on public health in the UK and in the EU. It also provides an estimate of the economic impact for pharmaceutical companies.
 
This research was commissioned by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and the BioIndustry Association (BIA) to provide important evidence for the ongoing policy analysis into the implications of the UK leaving the EU. It is published today to coincide with today’s House of Commons Health Select Committee on ‘Brexit: the regulation of medicines, medical devices and substances of human origin’.
 
Giving evidence to the committee today, Steve Bates, CEO of the BIA, will use the research to urge the Governments of the EU and the UK Government to “safeguard public health in the UK and Europe by making the regulation and supply of medicines the first priority in phase two of Brexit talks.”
 
The report assesses the sensitivity of the various potential public health and economic impacts according to a number of different possible combinations of trade and regulatory agreements between the UK and EU.
 
We show that the public health implications of Brexit will become more severe as public health cooperation and trade relationships lessen between the EU and the UK. Importantly, the public health impacts may not just occur in the UK, but many may also be significant in the remaining counties of the EU and the European Economic Area.
 
In the event of Europe and the UK no longer cooperating as they do today on medicines and public health, key findings show:
  • The sharing of important drug safety information or information relating to adverse medical events could face a five month delay.
  • Europe’s management of large-scale emerging public health concerns or crises – such as the Zika virus – could be at risk.
  • A potential for increased frequency of medicines shortages due to administrative burden, customs delays and tariff measures.
Two reports are available:
  • An Executive Report which provides headline results according to various ‘scenarios’;
  • A detailed Technical Annex which provides methods and results for each of the individual analyses upon which the headline results are based.

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