|
|
|
|
This
is the ESTRO Public Affairs newsletter: a monitoring service offered by
ESTRO to national societies of the radiation oncology area to keep
up-to-date with oncopolicy issues.
This issue of the newsletter is dedicated to "Reflecting on health in 2019".
|
|
|
Content
Focus of the Month
Reflecting on health in 2019
Health at a Glance 2019 and State of Health in the EU reports
Partnerships
News
- European Beating Cancer Plan is moving forward
- Horizon Europe
- Health Tecnhology Assessment (HTA)
- Croatian EU Council presidency
- Medical Devices and In Vitro Diagnostics Regulations (MDR & IVDR)
- Guidance document for applying to clinical trials
- Finland spearheading the European data revolution
- Google AI system found to imporve breast cancer detection
Errata corrige
Funding opportunities
|
|
|
Reflecting on health in 2019
Health at a Glance 2019 and State of Health in the EU reports
The OECD released this month its annual Health at a Glance
report, which compares key indicators for populations and health
systems performance across member and partner states. On a positive
note, the survival rate for several cancers has increased, reflecting
higher quality preventive and curative measures. However, the report
also points at the low uptake of cancer screenings amongst poorer
individuals, despite most OECD countries providing them at no cost.
Overall, the report concludes, OECD countries' large expenditures on
health need to become more efficient to be economically sustainable, and
access to care needs to improve so that all can benefit from them
equally. In addition to the usual chapters, this year's edition includes
a special focus on patient-reported outcomes and people-centered
healthcare systems.
Additionally, another OECD report on Putting Data to Work for Stronger Health Systems
pointed out the need for a comprehensive, overarching digital strategy
in health, as the sector lags behind many other ones in terms of the
effective, safe, and efficient use of real-world data. Steps have
already been taken in that direction within the EU, with the recent adoption of the final text on enabling the digital transformation of health and care in the Digital Single Market.
The European Commission, too, issued its biennial State of Health in the EU
report in December. It concurs with the OECD on the need for better
access to healthcare, especially with regards to the affordability of
medicines. The report also addresses the ongoing debate on the issue of
brain drain amongst healthcare professionals and observes a trend of
shifts to prevention and primary care across the EU. Cooperation between
member states is recommended to ensure safe, effective, and affordable
therapies.
|
|
|
ECCO "MISSION POSSIBLE" EVENT
ESTRO
participated on 10 December to the ECCO-sponsored event "Mission
Possible: Eliminating cancers caused by HPV as a public health problem
in Europe", hosted by Veronique Trillet-Lenoir MEP at the European
Parliament.
|
|
European Beating Cancer Plan is moving forward
Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides will hold a kick-off discussion
on the plan on World Cancer Day (4 February). A communication and
action plan can be expected for the end of 2020. So far a large part of
the focus has been on cancer screening, but a number of stakeholders have issued a joint statement advocating for the addition of a pillar on cancer-related complications.
|
|
Horizon Europe
The
upcoming research and innovation framework programme, which will run
from 2021 to 2027, has been a hot topic across EU institutions. An implementation co-design exercise
pointed to the importance of having a flexible programme with equal
opportunities for all applicants and a transparent evaluation process.
Meanwhile, central and eastern European countries want the focus to be
on closing the innovation gap before enhancing cooperation with countries outside Europe. The financial framework of the programme is also being discussed, as are partnership guidelines and synergies between Horizon Europe and other EU programmes.
Martin Seychell, deputy director-general of DG Sante, justified the choice of cancer as one of the 5 main Horizon Europe missions by explaining that innovations in all key stages of cancer care will help address health systems failures in general.
|
|
Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
The Finnish presidency of the European Council reviewed the stalled EU draft regulation on HTA, and sent a compromise proposal to the European Council. The edits
– which include the deletion of an article referring to mandatory
uptake of assessments at EU-level - have been well-received by the
member states and should move the approval process forward However,
it still needs to be decided which medicines will be included, and
whether medical devices will have to be assessed at EU-level.
Moreover, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) criticized
the review, saying only the original proposal could guarantee the
non-duplication of assessments and satisfy the rights of both patients
and manufacturers. The EORTC also released a manifesto
calling for the establishment of Treatment Optimization research as an
official and mandatory step in the treatment access path to market.
|
|
|
Croatian EU Council presidency
The Balkan state took over the Council presidency on 1 January and will hold it until 30 June. The presidency has already emphasized the importance of the Horizon Europe Euratom Research and Training Program and will be holding a two-day conference on oncology in April.
|
|
|
Medical Devices and In Vitro Diagnostics Regulations (MDR & IVDR)
The German-based MedCert and Dutch-based BSI respectively become the ninth notified body approved under the new MDR,
and the third notified body approved under the new IVDR. Approval of
notified bodies will continue in 2020, with the intention to have
approved 20 in total by the end of the first quarter.
|
|
|
Guidance document for applying to clinical trials
The Clinical Trials Regulation,
first drafted in 2014 to replace the 2001 Clinical Trials Directive,
has been updated and submitted for discussion to the Expert Group on
Clinical Trials. Once fully implemented, it will ensure harmonised rules
for conducting clinical trials in Europe through a single submission
and assessment procedure via a single EU portal.
|
|
|
Finland spearheading the European data revolution
Finland is leading the way to establish a common European framework for the data economy.
They recently adopted a law allowing citizens' health data to be pooled
in a single clearinghouse, Findata, and plan to share this model with
other member states.
|
|
|
Google AI found to improve breast cancer detection
An AI system
developed by Google Health was able to detect breast cancer in
mammograms that radiologists could not, and to reduce false positives.
However, experts warn that AI will not be able to replace radiologists,
who still face a staffing crisis in the UK, but will provide them with a
safety net.
|
|
|
Errata Corrige: ECPC at ESTRO COURSE ON SKIN CANCER
On
8 November, the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) was invited as
a special guest to the ESTRO course on Multidisciplinary
Management of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer. They gave a lecture and added a
patients’ perspective to the course.
Correction: last month's newsletter incorrectly identified the name of
the course as "Multidisciplinary Management of Melanoma Skin Care". We
apologize for this error.
|
|
If you have any questions please contact Lara Fizaine
ESTRO Society Affairs & Policy Officer lfizaine@estro.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
