7. Urges the Commission to ensure that there is sufficient health expertise to play an effective role in the health sector dialogue by seeing to it that all delegations where health is a focal sector have health specialists, by working more closely in post-conflict countries with European Community Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) health advisers, by forming closer partnerships with the WHO in order to draw on their expertise, and by entering into formal agreements with the EU Member States to use their expertise; asks the Commission to send to Parliament's competent committees, by 10 April 2009, an overview of the respective number o ...[+++]f health and education experts it has made available in the region, at delegation level as well as in its headquarters, and a precise timetable/overview for 2009 and 2010 indicating how it intends to increase this number and where those persons will be located, so that the Commission replies can be taken into account in the discharge procedure for 2007;

2. Considers that, with a view to reaching better health outcomes and attaining the internationally agreed health development goals, a common commitment is needed; in this context, welcomes the commitment on the part of the developing countries to work towards the target of 15 % of national budgets as investment for health in accordance with the commitments made by African leaders in Abuja, Nigeria, in April 2001 (the Abuja 15 % target); regrets that the EC allocated only 5,5 % of total assistance under the ninth European Development Fund (EDF) to health;

UNDERLINES the leading role of Ministers of Health in developing and pursuing effective, health policy-driven approaches in order to adequately address macroeconomic, health and societal challenges including those related to ageing population, and ensure future long-term health sector strategies, with particular emphasis on health sector investment and human resource strategies;

building innovative partnerships between the health and other relevant sectors (e.g. social, education, employment) to analyse policy impact on mental health, to address mental health problems of vulnerable groups and the links between poverty and mental health problems, to address suicide prevention, to promote mental health and well-being and to prevent mental health disorders in different settings, such as workplaces and educational settings,

RECOGNISES that the determinants of mental health and well-being, such as social exclusion, poverty, unemployment, poor housing and bad working conditions, problems in education, child abuse, neglect and maltreatment, gender inequalities as well as risk factors such as alcohol and drug abuse are multifactorial, and can often be found outside health systems, and that therefore improving mental health and well-being in the population requires innovative partnerships between the health sector and other sectors such as social affairs, housing, employment and education;

pay particular attention to interoperability and safety issues related to the integration of medical devices in e-Health systems, especially Personal Health Systems and mobile health systems (m-Health) while bearing in mind that the deployment of health ICT systems is entirely a matter of national competence,