As the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) initiative nears a five year milestone, the European Commission has today announced new statistics showing that the number of cards in circulation has topped 180 million. The number of Europeans holding the card has increased every year since the programme's introduction in 2004.

The mission of the International Journal of E-Health and Medical Communications (IJEHMC) is to be a prime source for the advancement of knowledge, application, and practice in the interdisciplinary areas of biomedicine, healthcare, telemedicine, and medical communications. IJEHMC addresses innovative concepts and critical issues in the emerging field of e-health and medical communication.

European healthcare is threatened by soaring costs and limited resources. Market tests demonstrating that telemedical services can cut costs and improve treatment are now being implemented across the continent. If you are injured in a car crash or suspect you are having a stroke, quick diagnosis and treatment by top specialists could be critical to the outcome. Wouldn't it be great if you could get that state-of-the-art care wherever you are, without having to be rushed to a clinic able to handle the case?

A £220 million fund will be made available to encourage innovation within the UK's NHS, Health Minister Lord Darzi announced today, during an event at the Science Museum in London to mark the launch of 'Innovation for a Healthier Future', a series of initiatives to nurture and reward innovation within the NHS.

The EU must boost its visionary IT (information technology) research policy in order to lead the way in turning bright research ideas into future technologies, the first ever European Future Technologies Conference heard yesterday. The event, which runs from 21 to 23 April in Prague, Czech Republic, was organised by the European Commission to foster a discussion on frontier science and how tomorrow's technologies could impact on society.

Unlimited computing power, computers mimicking the brain, mind-controlled wheelchairs and friendly robotic companions are part of a new European plan to boost visionary research, unveiled by the European Commission. With more investment and cooperation in high-risk research on future information technologies, Europe can lead the way in turning bright research ideas into future technologies.

In a video posted on her website, Viviane Reding, the European Union's Commissioner for Information Society and Media, said that Europeans must have the right to control how their personal information is used, and said that the Commission would take action wherever EU Member States failed to ensure that new technologies such as behavioural advertising, RFID 'smart chips' or online social networking respected this right.