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Newsletter N° 173 – November 2019
In this issue:
HOPE activities
Hospital Healthcare Europe 2019 released
Digital Health Solutions to Fight Pain Awarded at the European Level
Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union ePrivacy Regulation – Council Updated Draft
EU institutions and policies
Public Health
European Antibiotic Awareness Day: Survey of healthcare workers’ knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in EU/EEA
Antimicrobial Resistance: New MEP Interest Group
European Reference Networks: Statement on Integration of the ERN to the healthcare systems of Member States – available in all EU languages
Falsified Medicines: New EU Aide Memoire for Good Distribution Practices
Expert Group on Health Systems Performance Assessment
State of Health in the EU 2019
Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion
Access to social protection: making social protection systems fit for the future - Council Recommendation
Avenue Marnix 30 - BE-1000 BRUSSELS l www.hope.be HOPE is an international non-profit association under Belgian law
Joint Research Center
Breast cancer: new European recommendations
Justice and Consumers
GDPR- European Data Protection Board event
Budget
EU budget for 2020: Tackling climate change and delivering on other EU priorities
European programmes and projects
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom call 2019-2 closed: €5 million to eHEalth
Cross-border Innovation Procurement in Health
VIGOUR - Evidence-based guidance to scale-up integrated care in Europe project
Consultation on the future of the Active and Assisted Living Programme
Projects awarded funding within the 9th JPIAMR Joint Call
Reports and publications
Reports
➢ World Health Organization (WHO)
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in children and adolescents in the WHO European Region
What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well - being? A scoping review
Country profiles on environmental health inequality. A supplement to Environmental health inequalities in Europe. Second assessment report
➢ European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Working at older ages: why it’s important, how it affects health, and the policy options to support health capacity for work
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Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: Will population ageing lead to uncontrolled health expenditure growth?
➢ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Health at a Glance 2019
Health in the 21st Century: Putting Data to Work for Stronger Health Systems
➢ Others
International Report on Organ Donation and Transplantation Activities Executive summary
Articles
➢ Health Policy
The dynamics of health poverty in Spain during the economic crisis (2008– 2016)
The growing role of seniors councils in health policy-making for older people in Poland
Using national electronic healthcare registries for comparing the risk of psychiatric re-hospitalisation in six European countries: Opportunities and limitations
Pay for performance for specialised care in England: Strengths and weaknesses
Homelessness, health and the policy process: A literature review
Substituting emergency services: primary care vs. hospital care
Facilitators and barriers to implementing task shifting: Expanding the scope of practice of clinical technologists in the Netherlands
➢ International Journal of Nursing Studies
Gender equality policies, nursing professionalization, and the nursing workforce: A cross-sectional, time-series analysis of 22 countries, 2000– 2015
➢ BMC Health Services Research
Contacting out-of-hours primary care or emergency medical services for time-critical conditions - impact on patient outcomes
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➢ BMJ Quality & Safety
Factors associated with inappropriate use of emergency departments: findings from a cross-sectional national study in France
➢ Human Resources for Health
The impacts of training pathways and experiences during intern year o n doctor emigration from Ireland
Other news – Europe
FEAM European Biomedical Policy Forum
Medical Devices Regulations (MDR) – Discussion
Health and climate change - Policy brief by CPME & Lancet Countdown
Pharmaceuticals in the environment – workshop
Antimicrobial resistance: A major global health threat - Webinar
Fertility Europe event
Social Dialogue and the Paritarian Model: Added Value in a Changing Labour Market
A healthcare workforce for the digital age - Health First Europe
Quality Cancer Care Week
❖ Data as a driver for improvement- ECCO ❖ Cross Border Healthcare promises and realities - Youth Cancer Europe ❖ Report on lung cancer: Early diagnosis and screening challenges - LuCe Lung Cancer Europe
Patient safety: the perspective of chronic wound and pressure ulcer prevention- EWMA and EPUAP
Conference “Migration, Health and Medicine”
Improving Health Outcomes for People with Diabetes in Europe: The role of data, access to innovation and integrated care
European Health Tourism Industry Summit
1st European Value-Based Procurement Conference
2019 EAHP Medicines Shortages Survey
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Upcoming HOPE (and co-organised) conferences and events
ICIC20 – 20th International Conference on Šibenik, 27-29/04/2020 Integrated Care
10th European Conference on Rare Diseases Stockholm, 15-16/05/2020 & Orphan Products
HOPE Agora 2020 Brussels, 5-7/06/2020
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Hospital Healthcare Europe 2019 released
On 29 October 2019, the latest issue of HOPE publication Hospital Healthcare Europe (2019) has been released. It represents an essential resource for European hospital healthcare professionals.
Find the table of contents with direct access to the online version here
Hospital Healthcare Europe provides a platform for over 200,000 senior stakeholders in hospitals across Europe to share innovative ideas on how to address their healthcare challenges and ensure they stay up to date with what’s going on in their industry. The digital journal and website is an indispensable resource for best practice information, pan-European guidelines and clinician-authored case studies from leading medical centres in Europe.
Digital Health Solutions to Fight Pain Awarded at the European Level
In 2017, HOPE joined the initiative launched by Active Citizenship Network (ACN) of the second edition of the bi-annual research- project conducted at the European level and entitled “EU Civic Prize on Chronic Pain - Collection of good practices.”
This initiative aims to provide evidence of existing good practices in terms of struggle against pain across Europe, encouraging the exchange of experiences among health professionals, healthcare providers, institutions, civic associations and patient advocacy groups.
40 good practices were gathered out of which four were selected as winning best practices. They are all mobile apps and thus demonstrate the growing role of digital health in the treatment of chronic pain.
Divided into four categories (patients’ empowerment, innovation, professional education, clinical practices), the good practices were evaluated by a pool. Besides a representative of ACN, these representatives came from the European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE), the European Pain Federation (EFIC), the Sine Dolore European Pain Foundation, the Pain Alliance Europe (PAE), the European Confederation of Care Home Organisations (ECHO), the European Multidisciplinary Network in Pain Research and Education (EMNIPRE), the European Headache and Migraine Alliance (EHMA) and from a retired university professor.
Winner for the category “patients’ empowerment” MyDystonia, was developed by Dystonia Europe (Belgium), as an electronic diary available as a web-based service and as a mobile APP for dystonia patients to record and analyse the impact of the disease on everyday
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life. By answering predefined questions (e.g. core symptoms like overactive muscles or pain; impact on daily living; etc.), the user is able to examine and to visualize their well-being according to the treatment schedule. The digital diary is designed to support and potentially improve patient- physician communication. The collected anonymized data can provide important information and knowledge on the daily life of dystonia patients and could lead to further research projects, improved treatments and hopefully a better quality of life for people living with dystonia.
“DTX for PAIN” was the winner for the category “innovation”. It is digital therapeutics – developed by Lucine Group (France) able to relieve patient’s pain through active substances allowing analgesic neurostimulation. Customized, this option is adapted to each patient thanks to the measurement and analysis of pain through facial, vocal, and postural recognition. “DTX for PAIN” is the first digital solution that can measure and analyse patient's pain level using facial, postural, vocal and environmental recognition. The smartphone’s camera analyses the mobility of the face, the body, the emotional expressions, the semiotics of the language and the modulation of the patient's voice. After analysing the data, “DTX for PAIN” delivers an objective measurement of the patient's pain level on a scale from 1 to 100 and analyses pain biomarkers. It is the first digital therapeutics to provide health solutions that act as an analgesic without the absorption of a conventional molecule. Thus, to relieve pain, it offers a library of "digital health therapeutics”.
“RED App” was the winner for the category “professional education”. Developed by Niguarda Hospital (Italy), RED App is a mobile application with four main objectives: being a compass for citizens and general practitioners by providing information about pain care and the local Pain Care Network of Milan (“RED network”: centres, services, settings, contacts); facilitating communication between patients/primary care physician and pain care centres; sharing information and documents for physicians and patients on clinical pathway protocols and treatments; supporting the patient empowerment and the patient flow management within the network. The final goals are to enable the prompt access of patients referred by their general practitioners to the pain care specialists and - second - to improve the quality of pain care throughout the healthcare system by defining and sharing care protocols on the most common pain syndromes.
“Rise-uP” was winner for the category “clinical practices”. It is the main output of a project developed by Centre of Interdisciplinary Pain Medicine, Dep. of Neurology, MRI Munich, Technical University of Munich, Germany. It aims to overcome the less structured treatment of acute and subacute unspecific low back pain in Germany. Rise-uP aims to establish a guidelines-oriented treatment algorithm including telemedicine and mHealth coordinated by the general physician.
Read more
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ePrivacy Regulation - Council Updated Draft
The Finnish presidency of the Council of the EU released an updated draft of the Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (ePrivacy Regulation) on 30 October 2019. The amendments were discussed at the Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Society meeting on 7, 12, 14 and 18 November 2019. The latest version of the revised text of the ePrivacy proposal is available here and was released on 8 November 2019.
The amendments that the Finnish Presidency suggested include:
• Scope of application of the ePrivacy Regulation: The Finnish Presidency included various options to clarify the application of the ePrivacy Regulation, in particular under Recital 19a, Article 2(2)(e), Article 6(1)(a), Article 6a(1)(a) and Article 7(1). • Recital 19a: The ePrivacy Regulation now clarifies that the processing of electronic communications data should only be allowed with the user’s prior consent and to the extent necessary for the provision of the requested functionalities. • Recital 20: The ePrivacy Regulation further clarifies that cookie walls may not be used. This is in line with previous guidance from the French and German supervisory authorities. In the context of the use of cookies, users must have a genuine choice between an offer that includes consenting to the use of cookies and an equivalent offer that does not involve consenting. Making access to a website dependent on consent to the use of cookies in the presence of a clear imbalance between the user and service provider deprives the user of a genuine choice. Further, the ePrivacy Regulation clarifies that service providers must provide users with clear, precise and user-friendly information on the purposes of cookies. • Recital 33a: In essence, Recital 33 provides that direct marketing communications require opt-in consent. Email marketing for similar products and services does not require opt-in consent if the contact details were obtained in the context of an existing customer relationship. Recital 33a now further clarifies the legal basis for voice-to-voice direct marketing calls that do not involve the use of automated calling and communications systems. Such voice-to-voice direct marketing calls may be based on an opt-out solution in the context of an existing customer relationship. • Article 2(2)(f): The ePrivacy Regulation shall not apply to electronic communications processed upon receipt by the user concerned or by a third party entrusted by the user for the purpose of protecting the user’s terminal equipment. • Article 6a(2): Providers of electronic communications services must consult a supervisory authority prior to processing of electronic communications content if such consultation is required under Article 36(1) GDPR.
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European Antibiotic Awareness Day: Survey of healthcare workers’ knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in EU/EEA
On 18 November 2019, the EU-level launch event celebrating the 12th anniversary of the European Antibiotic Awareness Day initiative took place in Stockholm. This year, together with its annual update on antibiotic resistance and antibiotic consumption surveillance data from EU/EEA countries, the European Centre for Diseases Control (ECDC) released the report on the “Survey of healthcare workers’ knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance, EU/EEA, 2019”, which include stratification of results by country, profession and setting.
Executive summary of the survey of healthcare workers’ knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance, EU/EEA, 2019
EU-JAMRAI has launched a design contest to find the first global Antibiotic Resistance Symbol. This contest is not about creating another logo. They are looking for something tangible that anyone can make at home and everyone, anywhere, can wear like the AIDS ribbon.
Read more about the contest
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Antimicrobial Resistance: New MEP Interest Group
On 21 November 2019, a new MEP Interest Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) was launched to help address this global health threat under a multi-sectoral ‘One Health’ approach integrating its human, animal, and environmental components. The World Health Organization has identified AMR as one of the top ten global health threats. If no effective action is taken, AMR could push 24 million people into extreme poverty globally by 2030 and cause the death of 10 million people every year by 2050.
The European Parliament can play a key role in boosting actions on AMR at EU level to ensure that the Commission and Member States deliver on their commitments and implement effective policy responses to the AMR threat.
The European Court of Auditors’ Special Report on EU Action on AMR released earlier in November 2019 concluded that to date, the European Commission’s support to strengthen national policies resulted in little progress in reducing AMR. This demonstrates the need for a dedicated parliamentary group to help ensure that more concerted action is taken at EU and national level to tackle AMR within a ‘One Health’ perspective.
The founding members of the MEP Interest Group on AMR for the 2019-2024 mandate are:
• Biljana Borzan – S&D – Croatia • Sara Cerdas – S&D – Portugal • Olivier Chastel – RE – Belgium • Petra De Sutter – Green/EFA – Belgium • Fredrick Federley – RE – Sweden • Roberta Metsola – EPP – Malta • Sirpa Pietikäinen – EPP – Finland • Christel Schaldemose – S&D – Denmark • Tomislav Sokol – EPP – Croatia • Nicolae Ștefănuță – RE – Romania • Sarah Wiener – Green/EFA – Austria • Tiemo Wölken – S&D – German
The launch event of the Interest Group on AMR will take place in February 2020 at the European Parliament. Membership remains open to MEPs from across the political spectrum committed to take action to address AMR in the new EU mandate.
Read more
European Reference Networks: Statement on Integration of the ERN to the healthcare systems of Member States – available in all EU languages
European Reference Networks (ERNs) were created under the 2011 Directive on Patient Rights' in Cross-Border Healthcare. They are based on the voluntary cooperation of Member
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States that contribute to the ERNs’ activities in accordance with their national legislation. ERNs are operational since March 2017. To ensure a proper and sustainable functioning of the ERNs and to reap all benefits for patients suffering from rare and low prevalence complex diseases across the EU, the ERNs need to be linked in a clear and stable way to the healthcare systems of the Member States. This statement aims to give incentives to Member States to further enhance the integration process based on the input provided by the Working Group on Integration. It is now available in all EU languages here.
Falsified Medicines: New EU Aide Memoire for Good Distribution Practices
On 18 October 2019, the European Commission has published an aide memoire for Good Distribution Practices (GDP) inspection of wholesalers’ compliance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161 for safety features. The six-page document has been available online since 18 November 2019.
The document deals both with general questions and with more specific topics such as the wholesaler's quality system, records, returns, suspected falsified medicinal products, recommissioning of unique identifiers (UIs), training and outsourced activities. The document also contains references to guidelines and articles within Regulation 2016/161.
The list of general questions starts with “Are there medicinal products in the portfolio of the wholesaler required to bear safety features?” Further examples for general questions are:
• Are any products exempted under Annex I? • Are any OTC products required to bear safety features under Annex II? • Is the wholesaler a ‘designated wholesaler’? • Are individual unique identifiers (UIs) scanned / are aggregated codes scanned allowing the simultaneous verification of multiple UIs?
Finally, the aide memoire notes that if the wholesaler has subcontracted to a logistics provider, the technical agreement/contract should be reviewed.
Expert Group on Health Systems Performance Assessment
The minutes of the 19th meeting of the Expert Group on Health Systems Performance assessment that took place on 26 September 2019 were made public.
Participants were coming from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, the European Observatory of Health Systems and Policies, OECD, the Committee of the Regions, the European Commission.
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Elena Andradas Aragonés (Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare) presented the ongoing work of the Spanish Ministry of Health on building a health system performance assessment framework in Spain.
Kimmo Parhiala (National Institute for Health and Welfare) presented a review of how the economy of wellbeing (EWB) and HSPA are framed within the Finnish context.
Marina Karanikolos (European Observatory of Health Systems and Policies) debriefed members of the Expert Group on the main discussion points and takeaways from the Policy Focus Group (PFG) on measuring and assessing the resilience of health systems, which took place on the previous day (25 September 2019) under the steer of the European Observatory.
Federico Pratellesi (DG SANTE) presented the preliminary findings of the survey conducted by the Expert Group on tools and methodologies to assess health system resilience.
An account of the country case studies collected via the survey (through which survey respondents were asked to document cases of strategies, policy designs and processes implemented at the national, regional or local level to increase the resilience of health systems) was also presented to the group.
Full minutes
State of Health in the EU 2019
On 28 November 2019 the European Commission published the reports that depict the profile of health systems in 30 countries. Country Health Profiles are being issued with the Companion Report that shows some of the biggest trends in the transformation of the healthcare systems and draws key conclusions from the Profiles.
The Country Health Profiles provide an in-depth analysis of health systems, looking at the health of the population and important risk factors, as well as the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of health systems in each EU Member State. They clearly reflect shared objectives across the Member States, and reveal potential areas where the Commission can encourage mutual learning and exchange of good practices.
The Companion Report brings out some of the biggest trends in the transformation of our health systems:
❖ Vaccine hesitancy is a major public health threat all across Europe, which can be tackled by improving health literacy, countering disinformation and actively involving health workers. ❖ The digital transformation of health promotion and disease prevention can result in winners and losers. People who would most benefit from mobile health and other such digital tools may be the least likely to have easy access to it. ❖ Gaps in health care accessibility are still very much a reality in the EU. Both the clinical needs and socioeconomic characteristics of patients need to be accounted for when measuring access to health care and its many barriers.
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❖ Skill mix innovations among the health workforce show great potential for increasing the resilience of health systems. Promising examples of task shifting among health workers are found across the EU, particularly when it comes to enhancing the role of nurses and pharmacists. ❖ The product life cycle of medicines reveals ample scope for Member State cooperation in ensuring safe, effective and affordable therapies, including everything from rational spending to responsible prescribing.
Access State of health in the EU report
State of Health in the EU 2019 Factsheet
Access to social protection: making social protection systems fit for the future - Council Recommendation
On 8 November 2019, the Council adopted the Recommendation on Access to social protection for workers and the self-employed, a key initiative part of the roll-out of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Social security systems were primarily developed for and remain geared towards workers in ‘standard employment relations', implying a long-term, full-time work relationship, leaving other groups less covered. This potentially concerns a large share of people in the EU's labour market.
Nowadays, 4 out of 10 people work on non-standard contracts or are self-employed. Over the next year, the Commission will support Member States and stakeholders in achieving the objectives of the recommendation:
• through dialogue and mutual learning activities, but also • by improving statistics and proposing a monitoring framework.
The Commission will closely analyse the plan to be submitted by each Member State within 18 months to inform on the corresponding measures to be taken at the national level.
A complete overview of all initiatives in the social field by the Juncker Commission is available online.
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Breast cancer: new European recommendations
On the occasion of breast cancer awareness month, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) presented new, evidence-based recommendations for breast cancer healthcare on its new, enhanced website.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the European Union. Statistics from the European Cancer Information System (ECIS) estimate more than 400 000 new cases diagnosed in 2018. Great disparities and inequities persist across Europe when it comes to breast cancer prevention, early-detection, care and outcomes (i.e. survival).
The European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer (ECIBC). works to improve the quality of breast cancer screening, diagnosis and care across Europe. It develops and provides evidence-based recommendations and guidelines in a Quality Assurance scheme to facilitate implementation by breast cancer services in EU Member States.
On 24 October 2019, ECIBC published new recommendations, including on:
• staging interventions prior to treatment, • communication skills' training for healthcare professionals, • the optimal number of readings for radiologists in screening programmes, • digital means to invite women to screening programmes.
In this release, they also include new synthesised versions of their already published recommendations, now tailored for use by persons without medical knowledge and using clear language to empower women to take informed decisions. The new website also provides the first release of an online catalogue of trustworthy guidelines for all breast cancer processes after screening and diagnosis (i.e. treatment, rehabilitation, survivorship and follow-up, palliative and end-of-life care).
These guidelines, developed by organisations worldwide, have been selected according to strict eligibility criteria, thereby covering the whole breast cancer healthcare pathway.
In essence, ECIBC informs women and guides healthcare professionals and policymakers to plan, organise, and deliver effective and accessible breast cancer services.
It will be completed and available to all Member States in 2020 and then the JRC will start its next big project, namely, the European Commission Initiative on Colorectal Cancer (ECICC).
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GDPR- European Data Protection Board event
In preparation of a public consultation on the guidelines on data subject rights, the European Data Protection Board organised on 4 November 2019 in Brussels a stakeholder event “Data Subject Rights” to get feedback from stakeholders on three elements: right of access to personal data; right to rectification and right to erasure; right to restrict processing and right to object.
Apart from HOPE the participation of health stakeholders was limited to a few representatives of pharmaceutical organisations and consultancies.
For each of the three sessions, the discussion was around: scope of the right; participants’ experience with the application of the right, identification of potential problems; practical examples / positive solutions / best practices; data subjects’ request in terms of the formal requirements to be met, reasons for refusal of request; concrete examples where data subjects provided more information in order to ensure the application of their rights; suggestions for specific examples to be referenced on the guidelines.
A first session was organised on the right of access to personal data: how do stakeholders look at the relation between article 12 (the need for information to be concise, intelligible and easily accessible etc.) and article 15 (requiring quite extensive information to be provided)? Is it problematic to reconcile these two provisions? Do stakeholders see a point in providing information in a layered form (information given in different stages and in different ways)? As to the information that should be provided according to Articles 15.1 and 15.2, stakeholders were asked to what extent can and should this information be individualized? Have stakeholders encountered problems in providing sufficiently individualized information?
Most common problematics identified by participants were: the difficulties to reconcile 12 and 15; a general agreement for layers of information but recognition that raw data is not readable. There was a general consensus that 15-1 and 15 3 should be clarified: notion of copy; how data subjects can make their request; is it enough to have email of DPO on website; what proof is acceptable; conditions to fulfil more clarification on recipients.
The second Session was on the right to rectification and the right to erasure and the specific discussion points were: in the experience of stakeholders, could article 17(1) have implications regarding article 6(4) and, if so, could practical examples be provided of situations where this happened? How have stakeholders dealt with the obligation of the controller who erased the data to request other controllers to erase links, copies and replications? What is the stakeholders’ experience with the current practice of data erasure by Google? Which consequences have controllers suffered if/when they failed to fulfil their notification obligations to data subjects, in accordance with article 19 GDPR?
The feedback from participants was that there is a need for practical guidance to face the lack of knowledge among data subjects, a need to educate. There were comments on: identification and authentication of data subjects; on different responsibility of joint controllers; on the
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relationship between different rights and how to apply them (right of access and right of rectification and erasure). The need to rectify factual elements is not so clear as far as opinions are concerned. And on the right to erasure, there is an issue of definition; it is not fully clear what it means. There are specific needs for clinical trials and in that case also for controllers outside the EU. In addition, there is a specific concern about minors.
The Session 3 was focused on the right to restrict processing and right to object with several specific discussion points: what requests have stakeholders’ encountered for the application of the right to object? How have stakeholders assessed the legitimate grounds for processing as a burden of proof? How cumbersome of an exercise has it been? Have stakeholders dealt with requests for objection under 21(1) and 21(2) and, in particular, the consequences of applying one or the other?
The general issues raised were that data subjects need detailed information on the process and legitimate interest should be better defined.
EU budget for 2020: Tackling climate change and delivering on other EU priorities
On 18 November 2019, the three EU institutions (Council, Parliament and Commission) agreed on the EU budget for 2020, which was formally adopted on 27 November 2019. Next year budget will also prepare the transition to the next budgetary cycle as it will be the seventh and last one under the current 2014-2020 long-term budgetary cycle.
The 2020 EU budget is set at €168.69 billion in commitments (money that can be agreed in contracts in a given year) and €153.57 billion in payment credits (money that will be paid out). Some key features include:
• Horizon 2020 will get €13.49* billion (+8.8% compared to 2019); • 21% of the overall budget will go to measures to address climate change; • The Connecting Europe Facility's Energy strand - which invests in the large-scale deployment of renewable sources, in upgrading existing energy transmission infrastructure and developing new infrastructure - will receive €1.28 billion (+35% compared to 2019). • Close to half of the funds – €83.93 billion in commitments (+4.1% compared to 2019) – will help making “the economy more competitive”. Of them, €58.65 billion (+2.5% compared to 2019) will go to narrowing economic gaps in and between Member States, boosting growth, job creation and fostering convergence via the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds).
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• The European global satellite navigation system Galileo will be supported with €1.2 billion (+74.7% compared to 2019) to expand its worldwide market uptake to reach 1.2 billion users by the end of 2020. • €255 million will provide incentives for European companies to work together to develop defence products and technology under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme. • Young people will benefit through a number of programmes: €2.89 billion will go to education through Erasmus+ (+3.6% compared to 2019). The European Solidarity Corps will create opportunities to volunteer or work in projects at home or abroad with €166.1 million (+15.9% compared to 2019). • European farmers will benefit from €58.12 billion. • Security and migration management will continue to receive support. For example, €2.36 billion will go to the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund, and the agencies that work in this field (Europol, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), EASO, eu-LISA).
Read more
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Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom call 2019-2 closed: €5 million to eHEalth
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom 2019–2 call in support of European Digital Service Infrastructures in the areas of Cybersecurity, eHealth, eProcurement, European e- Justice, European Platform for Digital Skills and Jobs and the Public Open Data is now closed. Ninety-five (95) proposals were received, requesting a total of EUR 54.888.829 for EUR 25.000.000 of available funding.
The CEF Telecom 2019–2 call will support the following areas:
• Cybersecurity - €10 million to increase the cybersecurity capabilities of actors that are fundamental for a State's cybersecurity • eHealth - €5 million to improve cross-border healthcare access and services using ICT tools, specifically to make ePrescriptions and Patient Summaries widely available in the EU; • eProcurement – €1 million to simplify public procurement procedures and processes, as well as to facilitate the participation of both suppliers and buyers in them; • European e-Justice – €3 million to ensure that citizens and businesses can rapidly reap the practical benefits of e-Justice tools; • European Platform for Digital Skills and Jobs - €1 million to support the equipment of individuals and the labour force in Europe with adequate digital skills; • Public Open Data – €5 million to achieve better services for citizens and public administrations thanks to the re-use of public-sector information deploying innovative solutions.
The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), the contact point for this call, will now launch the evaluation and selection process.
Cross-border Innovation Procurement in Health
HOPE attended the event “Cross-border Innovation Procurement in Health: EU Funding Opportunities & Best Practices” organised by Directorate General Research organised on 17 October 2019.
Following the welcome speeches by Pilar Aguar Fernandez (Head of Unit DG RTD E3, Health Innovations) and Marco Marsella (Head of Unit DG CNECT H3, eHealth, Well-being & Ageing), an introduction on Innovation Procurement instruments in Horizon 2020 was delivered by Carmen Laplaza Santos (Deputy Head of Unit DG RTD E3, Health Innovations) and Lieve Bos (DG CNECT F3, Digital Innovation & Blockchain) and more
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precisely on procurement law bottlenecks in regulation (at EU and in member states), pre- conditions and enabling mechanisms.
New Calls 2019-2020 for Pre-commercial Procurement for Digital Health and Care Solutions (SC1-DTH-14-2020, PCP) and more precisely Pre-commercial procurement (PCP) for integrated care solutions (SC1-BHC-20A-2020) were presented by Orestis Kalliantzidis (DG CNECT H3, eHealth, Well-being & Ageing). The Public procurement of innovative solutions (PPI) for diagnostics for infectious diseases (SC1-BHC-20B-2020) was presented by Ana Duarte, DG RTD E3, Health Innovations.
Paving the way for a PCP/PPI, best practices from several projects were then presented: PIPPI – H2020 CSA; LIVE INCITE, H2020 PCP; EURIPHI– H2020 CSA; ProEmpower, HSMonitor – PCPs H2020; RELIEF – H2020 PCP; Stop&Go – FP7 PPI; RITMOCORE – H2020 PPI.
More information
VIGOUR - Evidence-based guidance to scale-up integrated care in Europe project
The first newsletter of the VIGOUR - Evidence-based guidance to scale-up integrated care in Europe project is available. VIGOUR is funded by the EU's Health Programme addressing key questions on how to put integrated care into practice.
This first edition provides information about 15 regions across seven European countries have begun to prepare the next step on their journey towards Integrated Care.
Read more
Consultation on the future of the Active and Assisted Living Programme
The Active and Assisted Living (AAL) Programme launched an online survey to gather stakeholder's views about the AAL’s impact to date as well as its future strategy for active and healthy ageing in Europe.
As part of the Horizon Europe strategic planning process, the survey launched by the AAL programme aims to seek opinion on the AAL’s achievements and lessons learned, the state of the active and healthy ageing market today and how we should approach the challenges we face in the future.
Take the survey and Read full text
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Projects awarded funding within the 9th Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) Joint Call
Twelve projects have been awarded funding within the JPIAMR 9th transnational call: “Call on Diagnostics and Surveillance 2019”. The total funding amount is 12,1 M€.
The call was launched in December 2018 and supported by 20 research-funding organisations from JPIAMR member countries. The primary aim of the call is to support innovative research projects on new or improved diagnostic and surveillance strategies, tools, technologies and methods. The call also aims to support research projects that have the potential for impact in areas where the risk and burden of AMR is greatest, such as in settings in Asia and Africa.
34 applications were received, involving 172 partners. The evaluation process included international experts that performed remote evaluation and constituted the peer review panel. In total twelve transnational projects were granted funding from 16 funders involved.
In 2011, the European Commission established the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR), together with 11 European member countries. Today, JPIAMR is a global collaborative platform and has engaged 27 nations to curb antibiotic resistance (AMR) with a One Health approach. The initiative coordinates national funding to support transnational research and activities within the six priority areas of the shared JPIAMR Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda – therapeutics, diagnostics, surveillance, transmission, environment and interventions.
Read more
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➢ World Health Organisation (WHO)
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in children and adolescents in the WHO European Region
The purpose of this document from 28 October 2019 is to guide Member States in the WHO European Region to adequately address child and adolescent multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) at the highest quality. Evidence-based guidance on how to manage children and adolescents infected with or having active multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is needed.
Link
What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well- being? A scoping review
This report published on 11 November 2019 synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan. The beneficial impact of the arts could be furthered through acknowledging and acting on the growing evidence base; promoting arts engagement at the individual, local and national levels; and supporting cross-sectoral collaboration.
Link
Country profiles on environmental health inequality. A supplement to Environmental health inequalities in Europe. Second assessment report
This report published on 21 October 2019 is a supplement to the “Environmental Health Inequalities in Europe” second assessment report and presents country profiles on environmental health inequalities related to housing conditions, basic services, urban environments and transport, work settings and injuries. The profiles provide information on the changes between the first and the second assessment reports, giving quick and effective insight into the inequality increases or reductions over time for many indicators.
Link
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➢ European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Working at older ages: why it’s important, how it affects health, and the policy options to support health capacity for work
This policy brief published on 30 October 2019 examines the economic arguments for later retirement and longer working careers in response to population ageing. The brief argues that a more comprehensive approach is necessary to ensure longer working careers. It argues that health systems are key to achieving this goal, particularly by embracing policies that support older people’s health through the workplace, and incentivising employers to create supportive environments for older people.
Link
Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: Will population ageing lead to uncontrolled health expenditure growth?
The policy brief published on 1 November 2019 looks at the long-term implications of population ageing for health spending growth. With the number and share of older people in the population increasing in nearly every country, there is much concern that this will translate into significantly higher growth in health spending in the future given that older people, on average, have higher health care costs than younger counterparts.
The brief finds that population ageing is not, and will not become, a major driver of growth in health expenditures. Moreover, they suggest that in countries where age demographics are changing but the size of the older population is not yet large, the costs of improving coverage and access to services for older people is likely to be manageable and now is a good time to begin investing in the health system while the population is relatively young.
Link
➢ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Health at a Glance 2019
Health at a Glance published on 7 November 2019 compares key indicators for population health and health system performance across OECD members, candidate and partner countries. It highlights how countries differ in terms of the health status and health-seeking behaviour of their citizens; access to and quality of health care; and the resources available for health. Furthermore, an overview chapter summarises the comparative performance of countries and major trends, including how much health spending is associated with staffing, access, quality and health outcomes.
Link
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Health in the 21st Century: Putting Data to Work for Stronger Health Systems
This report published on 21 November 2019 explores how data and digital technology can help achieve policy objectives and drive positive transformation in the health sector while managing new risks such as privacy, equity and implementation costs. It examines the following topics: improving service delivery models; empowering people to take an active role in their health and their care; improving public health; managing biomedical technologies; enabling better collaboration across borders; and improving health system governance and stewardship. It also examines how health workforces should be trained to make the most of digital technology. Findings and recommendations are relevant for policymakers, health care providers, payers, industry as well as patients, citizens and civil society.
Link
➢ Others
International Report on Organ Donation and Transplantation Activities Executive summary
On 4 November 2019, the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation published the “2017 Report on International Activities on Donation and Transplantation”. It describes and summarises the current situation and the evolution of organ donation and transplantation activities worldwide.
Link
➢ Health Policy
The dynamics of health poverty in Spain during the economic crisis (2008– 2016)
This paper, published in Health Policy (Volume 123, Issue 10, October 2019) examines individual health status measured subjectively (SAH) and decomposes some socio-economic determinants to analyse how this situation affects health. The authors focus on SAH to estimate the poverty trends over time using the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) index. The results show a negative growth if a poor SAH status is chosen as a health poverty threshold,
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and a positive growth of health poverty, if a fair SAH status is chosen. Furthermore, some socio-economic factors (such as gender, age and education level) are decomposed to study how these characteristics affect health poverty. The findings, based on different subgroup decompositions, reveal a rise of health poverty in Spain.
Link
The growing role of seniors councils in health policy-making for older people in Poland
This article from Health Policy (Volume 123, Issue 10, October 2019) examines the role of senior councils in Poland regarding health policy-making. The number of Seniors Councils in Poland has grown in recent years thanks to favourable legislative changes in 2013 and 2015. The influence of senior councils is likely to grow over the coming years, given the ageing of the population and the related increasing importance of older citizens in the electorate, especially for local political leaders. Seniors Councils can support better informed local decision-making by helping to identify local needs and contributing to a better allocation of scarce resources. They may also help to draw more resources to health promotion and primary prevention for older people in an environment of financial constraints and a healthcare system that traditionally prioritizes curative care.
Link
Using national electronic healthcare registries for comparing the risk of psychiatric re-hospitalisation in six European countries: Opportunities and limitations
The objectives of this study from Health Policy (Volume 123, Issue 11, November 2019) were to explore the interoperability of national electronic routine healthcare registries of six European countries (Austria, Finland, Italy, Norway, Romania, Slovenia) and, by using variables found to be comparable, to calculate and compare re-hospitalisation rates and the associated risk factors. The study concluded that the advantage of having large unselected study populations of national electronic healthcare registries needs to be balanced against the considerable efforts to examine the interoperability of databases in cross-country comparisons.
Link
Pay for performance for specialised care in England: Strengths and weaknesses
This study published in Health Policy (Volume 123, Issue 11, November 2019) offers a review and critique of the Prescribed Specialised Services (PSS) CQUIN program. A key feature of PSS CQUIN is that whilst it is centrally developed, performance targets are agreed locally. This means that there is variation across providers in the schemes selected from the national
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menu, the achievement level needed to earn payment, and the proportion of the overall payment attached to each scheme. Specific schemes vary in terms of what is incentivised – structure, process and/or outcome – and how they are incentivised. Centralised versus decentralised decision making, the nature of the performance measures, the tiered payment structure and the dynamic nature of the schemes have created a sophisticated but complex Pay-for-Performance (P4P) programme which requires evaluation to understand the effect of such incentives on specialised care.
Link
Homelessness, health and the policy process: A literature review
This paper from Health Policy (Volume 123, Issue 11, November 2019) investigates how policies addressing homelessness have been explored using formal policy process theories (PPT). It also examines how health has intersected with the issue of homelessness reaching policy agendas and in policy implementation.
A systematised search of academic databases for peer-reviewed literature from 1986 to 2018 identified six studies of homelessness policy change from Australia, Canada, France and the United States. PPT were able to articulate the interplay of actors, ideas and structures in homelessness policymaking. When the health sector was involved, it tended to be in terms of healthcare service utilisation rather than a broader public health framework emphasising structural social determinants of homelessness. Tensions between differing the priorities of local homelessness actors and a biomedical evidence-based policy paradigm were noted. Future policy action on homelessness requires new models of intersectoral governance that account for the complexity of health determinants, a health workforce enabled to engage with the SDH, and meaningful inclusion of those with lived and living experience of homelessness in policy formulation.
Link
Substituting emergency services: primary care vs. hospital care
This paper from Health Policy (Volume 123, Issue 11, November 2019) investigates the extent to which both ambulatory ED visits and inpatient ED admissions are substitutes for primary care emergency services (PCES) in Germany.
The results show significant substitution between PCES and ambulatory ED visits. Regarding the determinants, largest substitution is found for younger patients. The more accessible the hospital ED is, the significantly larger the substitution. Moreover, substitution is larger among better-educated patients. With regard to the determinants, the strongest substitution is found for non-urgent, short-stay admission and elderly patients.
Link
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Facilitators and barriers to implementing task shifting: Expanding the scope of practice of clinical technologists in the Netherlands
This paper released in November 2019 reports the qualitative findings of the implementation process of providing Clinical Technologist (CT) with a temporary expanded scope of practice (ESP). Data collection consisted of 69 semi-structured interviews, 3 focus group interviews and 9 participant observations, conducted between September 2015 and October 2017. The study suggests that social features are of great importance when implementing task shifting. In situations with few social barriers, organizational and administrative barriers seem to be less dominant, thereby expediting the overall implementation process.
Link
➢ International Journal of Nursing Studies
Gender equality policies, nursing professionalization, and the nursing workforce: A cross-sectional, time-series analysis of 22 countries, 2000– 2015
This article published on the International Journal of Nursing Studies (Volume 99, November 2019) aimed at investigating the relationship between gender regimes and gender equality policies, as macro-level determinants, and nursing professionalization indicators, in this case the regulated nurse and nurse graduate ratios.
The results showed that both the regulated nurse and nurse graduate ratios had averages that differed across gender regimes, being the highest in Earner-carer regimes and the lowest in Traditional family ones.
Link
➢ BMC Health Services Research
Contacting out-of-hours primary care or emergency medical services for time-critical conditions - impact on patient outcomes
This article published on 7 November 2019 investigated patient pathways and 1- and 1–30- day mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) stay and length of hospital stay for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke and sepsis in relation to the OOH service that was contacted prior to the hospital contact. More patients contacted OOH-PC than EMS. Sepsis and stroke patients contacting EMS solely or OOH-PC & EMS had higher likelihood of 1- and 1–30-day mortality during the subsequent hospital contact. Our results suggest that patients contacting EMS are more severely ill, however OOH-PC is still often used for time-critical conditions.
Link
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➢ BMJ Quality & Safety
Factors associated with inappropriate use of emergency departments: findings from a cross-sectional national study in France
This study published on 29 October 2019 is aimed at exploring socioeconomic and geographical determinants of inappropriate emergency department (ED) use in France. Inappropriate ED use appeared associated with socioeconomic vulnerability (such as not having supplementary health coverage or having universal coverage) but not with geographical characteristics.
Link
➢ Human Resources for Health
The impacts of training pathways and experiences during intern year on doctor emigration from Ireland
This study published on 6 November 2019 was aimed to identify factors associated with recently graduated doctors’ intention to migrate, focusing on their work experiences during the mandatory post-graduation year, their wellbeing, and their perceptions of postgraduate training in Ireland. Increasing Graduate Entry Medicine training places could improve Ireland’s retention of domestically trained doctors, reducing reliance on non-EU-trained doctors. However, improvements in the working experiences, perceptions of training, and protection of wellbeing are needed.
Link
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FEAM European Biomedical Policy Forum
HOPE attended the planning meeting FEAM European Biomedical Policy Forum on 21 October 2019.
This was an opportunity to come back to past activities and future ones : publication of the latest FEAM Forum summary report on One Health & Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on the 21st June 2019 in Bucharest ; the Regenerative Medicine workshop on the 27th November 2019 in Brussels ; the Immunotherapy annual lecture 2020, date and agenda to be confirmed.
Prof Stefan Constantinescu, Vice President of FEAM, provided an overview about the One Health-New Medical Concept Association, România – Universitatea Spiru Haret.
Rosa Castro, Senior Scientific Policy Officer at FEAM, provided an update on the EC new planning on Horizon Europe. The three main pillars of the programme will be: Excellent Science; Global challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness; Innovative Europe. The Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024 is mainly focused on pillars I and II, which includes strategic orientations for R&I. Synergies with other funds (Structural Funds, Digital Europe) will be addressed later. She mentioned that an impact assessment of the Innovative Medicines Initiative, with regard to cancer mission, is currently ongoing.
Pascal Garel for HOPE provided an overview on key messages released during a joint event on ‘Brexit: the European Parliament’s role in prioritising patients, public health and health security across Europe’ that was held on the 12 September 2019 at the European parliament.
The European Animal Research Association (EARA) provided an update on activities and communication plan with the release of the EU Statistical report and Implementation report on the use of animals for scientific purposes expected for November 2019.
Medical Devices Regulations (MDR) - Discussion
On 29 October 2019, HOPE attended an event jointly organised by the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union and the trade and industry associations BDI, BVMed, DIHK, MedicalMountains, SPECTARIS and ZVEI. The event was attended by a variety of stakeholders including representatives from politics, industry, medical associations and patients.
As the new EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) comes into force on 26 May 2020, the objective of the meeting was to discuss some questions about its practical implementation that remain unanswered and the difficulties in the delivery and supply of medical devices that could be the result.
The discussion focused on two main aspects:
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➢ What specific effects does the MDR have on patients, care providers (hospitals, doctors) and manufacturers? ➢ What are the possible solutions for an MDR that works at the expiration of the implementation period?
Several concerns were raised by the participants: the time constraint, the case of up-classified devices which cannot use Article 120 (the so-called "grace period"), the capacity of the Notified Bodies (NBs) and the EUDAMED.
At the time of the meeting, only 40 of the 56 notified bodies designated for the former MDD (Medical Devices Directive) were seeking application for the MDR and 38 preliminary assessment reports had been received by the Commission. However, there are only 7 functioning NBs which have to manage the application for renewal of about 55000 old certificates and have to deal with certificates for new devices at the same time, creating an overload. It creates also distortions as the few functioning NBs have a consequent market power for the time being and the high fees represent a burden for the SMEs. Although, talking about capacity, a high number of staffing in each NB could compensate for a reduced number of NBs.
EUDAMED, the new European database for Medical Devices foreseen by the MDR is only at the stage of “draft” and it will be fully functional later than expected due to the complexity of the dossier.
Finally, the issues of the grace period and the loophole that could create the warehousing provisions (Art 120-4) were discussed. But these provisions are only available for already existing Medical Devices and stockpiling is not feasible for medical devices with limited lifetime. The idea to extend to Art 59 ‘Emergency clause’ to more products was mentioned as a possible solution to face these challenges.
More on MDR
Health and climate change - Policy brief by CPME & Lancet Countdown
The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME), in collaboration with the Lancet Countdown, has published in November 2019 a Policy brief for the EU focusing on the link between health and climate change. It focuses on data from four themes featured in the 2019 Lancet Countdown report: the economic costs of air pollution, electricity generation, transport, and climate suitability for mosquito-borne disease transmission.
The briefing calls for the European policymakers to update the EU air quality standards to be aligned with the WHO guidelines and boost the share of renewable energy in electricity generation, including phase-out of the use of coal and other fossil fuels. Moreover, it recommends prioritising active and accessible mobility for all and to promote safe walking and cycling.
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The briefing is launched in parallel with the 2019 Lancet Countdown report and a number of other policy briefs around the world. The Lancet Countdown is a global, independent, interdisciplinary research collaboration between leading academic institutions, the United Nations, and intergovernmental agencies. CPME collaborated with the Lancet Countdown also in 2018.
Pharmaceuticals in the environment - Workshop
On 12 November 2019, HOPE took part in a workshop organised by Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe as part of the Safer Pharma programme to look at a multi-stakeholder approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment.
Pharmaceutical pollution is increasingly recognised as a threat to ecosystems and human health globally. 771 different pharmaceutical substances have been detected in the environment worldwide. Once in the environment, pharmaceuticals can accumulate in fish, livestock, and vegetables as well as entering drinking water. Pharmaceutical pollution is closely linked to the worrying development and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is annually responsible for an estimated 33,000 deaths in Europe. In March 2019, the European Commission published a Strategic Approach to Pharmaceuticals in the Environment to address this issue.
Hannah LECKIE, Policy Analyst - OECD Division of Climate, Biodiversity and Water presented the Report Pharmaceutical Residues in Freshwater: Hazards and Policy Responses published by the OECD on 13 November 2019. It shows that pharmaceuticals can enter the environment at all stages of their life cycle: manufacturing discharges, excretion during use, and improper disposal and promoted a lifecycle approach of the issue.
Caroline KRAGELUND, from the Danish Technological Institute presented the Mermiss project (DK) focusing on environmentally friendly treatment of highly potent pharmaceuticals in hospital wastewater. The idea was to test the policy “the polluter pays” also applying to hospitals. She showed that only 5% of medicines are consumed at the hospital while 95% are consumed in private homes. She also showed an important different between the pharma waste produced by ambulatory care which is much harmful than in-hospital care.
She presented a comparison between two possible ways: water treatment at hospital level and water treatment at municipal level. At hospital level this would require the installation of a whole water treatment system as pharmaceutical treatment can only be the last stage of water treatment which has to go through the conventional treatment first. At municipal level it would mean to add special equipment for pharmaceutical treatment to already existing installations. It appears that the most effective solution would be at municipal level regarding the difference of volume of pharmaceuticals in the water that exists between the two levels.
Alfons Uijtewaal, Foundation Huize Aarde presented the MEDUWA project (DE/NL): solutions to reduce or prevent the contamination of food, soil and water by medicines. One aspect explores the possibility to replace some pharmaceutical products by biopharma products like phyto-therapeutics, biodegradable medicines, plant and algae mixtures instead of antibiotics etc. Jelmer Faber, Hospital Pharmacist at BovenIJ Hospital, presented the idea of the
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PharmaSwap project (NL) which aims to create a marketplace for pharmacists to prevent pharmaceutical waste through an app.
Event page
Antimicrobial resistance: A major global health threat - Webinar
On 14 November 2019, HOPE participated in the online training organised by HealthCare Without Harm (HCWH), on antimicrobial resistance entitled: "Antimicrobial resistance: A major global health threat".
The webinar was moderated by Lloyd Evans from HCWH who interviewed the two guests, Professor Sally Davies (Master of Trinity College, Cambridge) and Professor William Gaze (University of Exeter).
This press brief aimed at giving explanations, data and opinions on the problem of antibiotic resistance. First of all, a basic explanation of the phenomenon from a scientific point of view was provided with some questions for the two guests, addressing the subject of bacterial mutations and environmental influence. The two panellists have also investigated the causes by addressing the issue of transmission through the administration to animals and also in agriculture.
They then gave some examples of countries that are trying to tackle the problem with first solutions such as Canada, UK and USA, emphasising above all the need for constant education of all medical personnel especially in the hospital environment so as to avoid unnecessary prescriptions and administrations of antibiotics.
Finally, as many attendants were from the media, the importance of correct media communication for the awareness and safety of citizens was finally stressed.
Tackling ARM in Europe’s healthcare facilities – Report by HCWH, September 2019
Fertility Europe event
On 5 November 2019, HOPE attended the “Let’s talk Fertility” event hosted by MEP Bartosz Arłukowicz (Poland, EPP) and organised by Fertility Europe at the European Parliament in the framework of the European Fertility Week 2019. The roundtable discussion was focused on how policymakers can support European citizens by providing better access to information and support through education, while raising the issues of inconsistent access to treatment and assistance across Europe. The speakers included:
• MEP Bartosz Arłukowicz (Poland, EPP); • Stefaan Van der Spiegel, Team Leader of Substances of Human Origin Medical products: quality, safety, innovation Unit, DG SANTE, European Commission; • Cristina Magli, Chair, European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology;
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• Satu Rautakallio-Hokkanen, Chair, Fertility Europe; • Klaudija Kordic, Vice-chairperson of Fertility Europe - providing the patient perspective.
The main focus of the meeting was to increase awareness of the general public about infertility issues as well as drawing attention to the different regulations in European countries. The speakers emphasised the importance of masking fertility mainstream and reinforcing awareness, prevention and quality of care. A call to action, outlining a number of recommendations to improve the situation for infertility patients, was presented during the event. MEP Frances Fitzgerald (Ireland, EPP) attended and took the floor to promote a rights- based approach on the issue as well as a cross-gender dialogue.
More information on Fertility Europe
Social Dialogue and the Paritarian Model: Added Value in a Changing Labour Market
On 6 November 2019, HOPE attended the AEIP (European Association of Paritarian Institutions) Annual Conference: Social dialogue and the paritarian model of social protection: Added-value in a changing labour market?
The conference addressed the aspects of the European Social Model that link directly to the engagement of social partners in reforming social protection systems. To discuss the topic two panels took place: European labour market trends and the future of work – implications for social protection systems? and Re-thinking the existing models for social change – How to deliver sustainable and modern social protection? The importance of the terms and the quality of employment as well as the need to co-create to have a sustainable social protection, were the main conclusions reached by the speakers. Moreover, the relevance of long-term care and dependency investment were stated crucial for the future of social protection. To conclude, the AEIP as well as the panels remarked the social function of pensions and the need to do not see them as a financial product.
More information on The European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP)
A healthcare workforce for the digital age - Health First Europe
On 5 November 2019, HOPE participated in the debate organised by Health First Europe entitled “A Healthcare Workforce for the Digital Age” at the European Parliament. The event was hosted by Members of the European Parliament Tomislav Sokol (Croatia, EPP) and Sara Cerdas (Portugal, S&D).
Health First Europe pretends to be a non-profit network of patients and healthcare professionals’ organisations, academics, health experts but is in fact driven and financed by is the medical technology industry.
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The debate focused on the current and future digitisation of healthcare professions and various organisations representing healthcare professionals participated, such as: specialists nurses, doctors, medical students, pharmacy students, junior doctors.
Mr. Christoph Klein (European Commission, DG CNECT), Mr. Tapani Piha (Adviser for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finnish Presidency) and a representative of MedTech Europe were among the panellists.
The debate focused on the digitisation in the field of health and the need for professionals to get regularly trained to stay up to date. The practice exchange programmes for professionals, as well more digital literacy, practical trainings and cross border learning in the health study faculties programs were mentioned as efficient ways to improve health professionals’ digital skills.
Event page
Quality Cancer Care Week
• Data as a driver for improvement- ECCO
On 5 November 2019 HOPE participated to a meeting entitled “Quality Cancer Care: Data as a driver for improvement” hosted in the European Parliament by MEP Irena Joveva (Slovenia, Renew Europe) and the Renew Europe political group.
This was part in the second edition of the “Quality Cancer Week” organised by ECCO, the European CanCer Organisation.
ECCO is a federation of 27 member societies - representing over 150,000 professionals. It represents European cancer patients’ interests, promoting interaction between all the organisations involved in cancer at European level, research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care in Europe.
Several members of ECCO and professionals of cancer research organisations coming from different member states presented the results of studies they had carried out and showed the benefits of research in achieving better results to combat the disease.
• Cross Border Healthcare promises and realities - Youth Cancer Europe
On 6 November 2019, HOPE participated in the Youth Cancer Europe event "Cross Border Healthcare promises and realities" hosted at the European Parliament by MEP Cristian-Silviu Bușoi (Romania, EPP).
Youth Cancer Europe is a network made up of individuals and/or organisations representing young people affected by cancer across Europe.
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The event addressed the analysis of the current situation and the effectiveness of the 2011/24/EU Directive on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare. The main problem detected throughout the debate was the failure to implement the Directive in many countries, and the lack of knowledge and awareness in Europe of this Directive.
The audience was composed of key cancer stakeholders, along with members of Youth Cancer Europe and cancer survivors who shared their own stories, highlighting how the system looks from the perspective of youth with cancer across the EU. MEP Tomislav Sokol (Croatia, EPP) also attended the event.
The event was financed by: Novartis Oncology, Janessen, Pfizer, J&J, Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck.
• Report on lung cancer: Early diagnosis and screening challenges - LuCe Lung Cancer Europe
On 6 November 2019, HOPE attended the LuCe (Lung Cancer Europe) event for the presentation of their new Report on lung cancer, and hosted by the Member of European Parliament Frances Fitzgerald (Ireland, EPP)
LuCE is a European platform for already existing lung cancer patient advocacy groups which supports the establishment of national lung cancer patient groups in different European countries where such groups do not yet exist. It aims to raise awareness about inequities regarding the access to lung cancer treatment and care in Europe. LuCe is supported by pharmaceutical and technological industries like Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Blueprint medicines, Boehringer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celegne, Lilly, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Takeda.
The first focus of the report and the event was put on early diagnosis in lung cancer, for which it was emphasised that there is a general lack of knowledge of lung cancer symptoms and a difficulty for a patient to link the symptoms to the disease. The second point stressed out was the need for the lung cancer screening to be included in the EU cancer screening guidelines and the promotion of education and awareness of screening across Europe. This was followed by testimonies of survivors who shared their experiences, for example underlining how in some of their cases the cancer was initially asymptomatic.
The meeting was attended by several members of LuCe, patients and sector experts who contributed to analyse and comment on the results of the report.
More about the Quality Cancer Care Week 2019
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Patient safety: the perspective of chronic wound and pressure ulcer prevention- EWMA and EPUAP
On 7 November 2019, HOPE took part in the meeting organised by the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) and the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) entitled: “The perspective of chronic wound and pressure ulcer prevention” and hosted by Member of the European Parliament Andreas Glück (Germany, Renew Europe).
The subject of the conference was an issue which according to the organizers lacks public awareness: the pressure ulcer. Speakers tried to outline the characteristics, causes, consequences and possible preventive remedies of this disease thanks to the representatives of EWMA and EPUAP. They showed that 10% of hospital patients and 5% of community nursing patients suffer from pressure ulcer. The speakers Ian Brownwood from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and Leo Celstini from EFN (European Federation of Nurses) stressed out the economic impact (including the use of health professionals) of pressure ulcer: 15% of all hospital activities and expenditures are direct result of adverse events due to this type of injury, as it requires a high level of material and human resources (mattresses, special cushions, regular repositioning, nutritional support) and is very difficult to prevent.
Joint EPUAP & EWMA Pressure Ulcer prevention & patient safety advocacy project
Pressure Ulcers and Patient Safety Fact Sheet
Conference: “Migration Health and Medicine”
On 22 November 2019, HOPE participated in a conference entitled: “Migration, Health and Medicine”. The event was held in the Palace of Academies in Brussels and was jointly organised by FEAM (Federation of European Academies of Medicine) and Allea (All European Academies), in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium and the French National Academy of Medicine.
Among the speakers were experts from Academic Associations, Universities and research centres, but also organisation representatives like Elisabeth Waagensen from the WHO Regional Office for Europe and institutions representative like John F. Ryan (Director, Public Health, Country knowledge and crisis management) from the European Commission.
The presentations addressed the interaction between the European migratory phenomenon and the safety of public health. The most recent data on the numbers, provenance and destinations of migrants was presented to the participants. Several presentations addressed the many myths and false news regarding the link between immigration and the spread of public health-risk diseases and debunked them thanks to analyses of the most important and risky diseases. Most conclusions stressed how migration is a necessary phenomenon for Europe, which meanwhile is ageing and facing the demographic crisis. The various speakers also addressed maternal and perinatal care among migrants, child health, migrant health and
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economic aspects, communicable and non-communicable disorders, social and humanitarian aspects, and mental health.
Event page
Improving Health Outcomes for People with Diabetes in Europe: The role of data, access to innovation and integrated care
On 21 November 2019, HOPE attended the “Improving Health Outcomes for People with Diabetes in Europe” event hosted by MEP Christel Schaldemose (Denmark, S&D) and supported by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). The discussion focused on the role of data, the access to innovation and the integrated care.
The speakers included:
• Christel Schaldemose (Denmark, S&D) • Troels Vingtoft Rye-Andersen, Co-Chair EFPIA Diabetes Group, Novo Nordisk • Milena Richter, Co-Chair EFPIA Diabetes Group, Sanofi • Anne Marie Felton, President, Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes • John Nolan, Executive Director, European Diabetes Forum • Dirk Van den Steen, Policy Officer, Healthcare systems Unit, Directorate-General for Health (DG SANTE), European Commission • Bastian Hauck, CEO, Dedoc Labs GmbH • Xavier Cos, Chairman, Primary Care Diabetes Europe
Diabetes presents several challenges and variations throughout Europe and worldwide. According to the organizers, the existing “competition” between diseases has produced a lack of attention and an underestimation of diabetes.
More information on EFPIA
European Health Tourism Industry Summit
On 20-21 November 2019, Health Tourism Industry (HTI) organised at the European Parliament in Brussels the European Health Tourism Industry Summit.
This event brought together professionals and health tourism industry leaders from private and public sector, who aim to address key challenges and discuss upcoming developments in health tourism industry.
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1st European Value-Based Procurement Conference
The 1st European Value-Based Procurement Conference A new paradigm in Health Care will be organised by MedTech Europe and supported by EHPPA, EUREGHA on 12 December 2019 at The Hotel in Brussels.
Value-Based Procurement (VBP) is a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to partner for patient-centric, higher quality and more sustainable health care. It addresses key challenges in the provider/supplier relationship, enables all parties to take longer-term, systemic views, ultimately leading to economic most advantageous purchasing for healthcare providers. By fostering collaboration, VBP can be a powerful change driver to address the challenges our healthcare systems and organisations face.
2019 EAHP Medicines Shortages Survey
On 7 November 2019, EAHP launched its Medicines Shortages Survey. It targets the impact of medicines shortages in the hospital environment. In addition to hospital pharmacists, EAHP is seeking input from patients affected by shortages and all health care professionals working in hospitals. The survey can be accessed until 13 January 2020.
The 2019 EAHP Medicines Shortages Survey explores issues such as the communication of medicines shortages within hospitals, current management strategies and possible reasons for and the impact on patients. As well as asking how survey participants would like to see medicines shortages handled and/or resolved on the policy level.
Link to the survey
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ICIC20 – 20th International Conference on Integrated Care
27-29 April 2020, Šibenik (Croatia)
The International Foundation of Integrated Care (IFIC) in partnership with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Zagreb, Health Center Zagreb – Centar, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, University of Zagreb, Libertas International University and the Catholic University of Croatia are bringing the 20th International Conference on Integrated Care (ICIC20) will take place in Amadria Park Convention Centre, Šibenik, Croatia from 27-29 April 2020. The conference will bring together researchers, clinicians and managers from around the world who are engaged in the design and delivery of integrated health and social care.
Registration: HOPE has secured a 10% discount for members. Please contact [email protected] for our discount code.
Event page
10th European Conference on Rare Diseases & Orphan Products
15-16 May 2020, Stockholm (Sweden)
HOPE joins the organisation of the European Conference on Rare Diseases & Orphan Products (ECRD), which is recognised globally as the largest, patient-led rare disease event. The event will take place on 15-16 May 2020 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The rare disease community has made great strides towards improving diagnosis, care and treatment for the 30 million people living with a rare disease in Europe in recent decades, but without vigilance and constant effort, progress can easily be reversed. The ECRD 2020 theme “The rare disease patient journey in 2030” recognises that the next decade holds great potential for improvement.
As the EU shapes its future policy and spending frameworks, ECRD 2020 serves as an opportunity to press the ‘pause button’ and take the time to co-create policy options today that can lead to a better patient journey in 2030 and beyond. Conference participants will hear from world experts on: future trends in diagnosis, rights to access healthcare and medicines, care delivery, digital health and the development, assessment and appraisal of therapies.
The collaborative dialogue, learning and conversations that will take place during ECRD will form part of the groundwork to shape the national and international rare disease policies of the future. ECRD 2020 Stockholm will put a spotlight on emerging trends in best practices, promising technologies and cutting-edge thinking across the six conference themes:
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• Theme 1: The future of diagnosis: new hopes, promises and challenges • Theme 2: Our values, our rights, our future: shifting paradigms towards inclusion • Theme 3: Share, Care, Cure: Transforming care for rare diseases by 2030 • Theme 4: When therapies meet the needs: enabling a patient-centric approach to therapeutic development • Theme 5: Achieving the triple A’s by 2030: Accessible, Available and Affordable Treatments for people living with a rare disease • Theme 6: The digital health revolution: hype vs. reality
Read more
HOPE Agora 2020
5-7 June 2020, Brussels (Belgium)
Every year since 1981 HOPE runs an exchange programme to promote the sharing of knowledge and expertise within Europe and to provide training and experience for hospital and healthcare professionals who are directly or indirectly involved in the management of European health care services and hospitals. It consists in a 4-week training period.
The HOPE Exchange Programme 2020 will start on 11 May and end on 7 June 2020. It will be concluded by the HOPE Agora 2020 that will take place on 5-7 June 2020 in Brussels (Belgium) around the topic “Using Evidence in Healthcare Management”.
More information
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