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The Patient Access Partnership encourages stronger stakeholder cooperation in Health Technology Assessment
Brussels, 20 June 2018
The Patient Access Partnership, a patient-led multi-stakeholder network for better access to healthcare across the European Union, urges Member States to continue the negotiations in the upcoming Council meeting and during the upcoming Presidencies on the European Commission’s proposal on Health Technology Assessment[1].
Despite the raised concerns in areas which may require further deliberation, there is a need for further discussion on a sustainable framework for HTA cooperation, especially these days when EU citizens demand the EU do more in health, instead of less.
We therefore encourage Member States to build on the achievements in this area towards an effective, sustainable and appropriate European-level framework focusing on joint clinical assessments and joint scientific consultations. It is legitimate to expect that what Member States do together is used and not duplicated. In the field of pharmaceuticals, such a framework has the potential to address the weaknesses of the current fragmented situation, optimise the use of resources, avoid duplication of efforts and improve the lives of patients through innovation.
We also call upon the Council to acknowledge the different patient pathways for pharmaceuticals and medical technologies and consequently advance European cooperation on HTA for pharmaceuticals, whilst reflecting on a more tailored approach towards assessing medical technologies, which requires applying the correct structure, tools and methodologies.
To achieve this goal, all relevant stakeholders (including patients, providers, insurers, decision-makers and the industry) must be involved in the process as partners in the negotiation process to ensure that any achievements in this area truly demonstrate the tremendous added value of pan-European cooperation in the field of health.
[1] REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on health technology assessment and amending Directive 2011/24/EU, 31 January 2018, LINK
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Registration is now open for the official relaunch event of the Interest Group on Equitable Access to Healthcare in the European Parliament. You can register through the following link!
The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark example of the public and private sector’s critical role in
“leaving no-one behind”, how gaps in our health systems leave us all vulnerable and how the
economy depends on health. This is a defining moment for all health stakeholders to
demonstrate collective leadership and to make the right choices now, with a vision for a better future.
Stakeholders discuss the challenges of the past and the strategies for better health cooperation in the future
Brussels, 16 July 2019
At a major conference, held in Brussels on 11 and 12 July and organised in collaboration with Finland’s EU Presidency, the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) addressed the collective priorities and actions required to advance the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 in Europe and to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare for all.
As a new Parliament and Commission are about to take office, this timely event provided the occasion for stakeholders to come forward with their ideas, concerns and suggestions with respect to the new EU mandate, making the case for a stronger EU-level health policy engagement.
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We are eager to welcome you to our forthcoming conference: “The future of health - Advancing the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in Europe” taking place at the Novotel Brussels City Center (Rue de la Vierge Noire 32) on 11 and 12 of July!
Advancing the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in Europe
11-12 July 2019, Novotel, Brussels City Centre
Join us at the first health, multi-stakeholder event taking place after the European Parliament Elections!
As a brand new mandate takes us into the third decade of the 21st Century and with a new EU Programming period on the horizon, healthcare and non-healthcare stakeholders will unite to co-create the future of health together with the current and future policy makers.
We will define the collective priorities and actions that are needed to advance the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 in Europe, and ensure equitable access to quality healthcare for all.
Join us at our multi- stakeholder health conference in July 2019 taking place just after the European Parliament Elections!
11 & 12 July, Novotel Brussels City Centre
As a brand new mandate takes us into the third decade of the 21st Century and with a new EU Programming period on the horizon, healthcare and non-healthcare stakeholders will unite to co-create the future of health together with the current and future policy makers.
We will define the collective priorities and actions that are needed to advance the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 in Europe, and ensure equitable access to quality healthcare for all!
Lisbon, 25 February 2019
On February 25, the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) in partnership with Grupo de Ativistas em Tratamentos (GAT) and the collaborative initiative MAIS PARTICIPAÇÃO Melhor saúde that GAT promotes, held a meeting in Lisbon, entitled “Patient-Centred Roundtable on Working Together for Accessible Health”, to discuss opportunities for improving cooperation between Portuguese health stakeholders for better access to quality healthcare in the country.
The event, was organized with the institutional support of the Health Parliamentary Commission and the Ministry of Health of Portugal.
Brussels, 20 February 2019
A meeting of the European Parliament Interest Group on Patient Access to Healthcare, organised jointly with the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) on 20 February provided the occasion for the formal launch of PACT’s ‘Statement on the Future of Health in the European Union’.
The meeting provided a variety of health stakeholders with the opportunity to take stock of the EU’s activities and achievements in relation to cooperation for the benefit of improving access to healthcare, to voice their concerns and to identify remaining gaps and future actions that would be required taken to address these.
The MEP Interest Group on Access to Healthcare in collaboration with PACT will host a meeting that will gather various stakeholders, MEPs, EU institutions’ representatives, member states representatives and experts from different Directorates of the European Commission and Parliamentary Committees to discuss EU cooperation in favour of more accessible health systems across the Union.
It will offer the opportunity to showcase the results of the various strands of work on access to healthcare as well as the efforts and key messages of health stakeholders to the MEPs ahead of the upcoming elections, including by giving voice to the perspectives of various PACT partners on how EU cooperation in healthcare can help improve access and reduce health inequalities.
To register to the event, please ckick here.
Brussels, 5 December 2018
In a meeting held in the European Parliament on 5 December, the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) and the Interest Group on Patient Access to Healthcare warmly welcomed the work done by the European Commission and ICF on a pilot project which aims to accurately and comprehensively measure access to healthcare across the EU. This pilot project came into life as a direct result of intense advocacy efforts on the part of PACT, the Interest Group on Patient Access to Healthcare and other key stakeholders two years ago.
The MEP Interest Group on Access will host an event on the results of the pilot project ‘Towards a fairer and more effective measurement of access to healthcare across the EU’, carried-out on behalf of the European Commission (DG SANTE). The project aims to identify effective ways of measuring access to healthcare whilst developing a conceptual framework and a list of indicators to measure access in the EU.
The pilot project is a result of the proposal put forward in 2016 by the MEP Interest Group on Access following a close cooperation with the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) in the context of the need for comparable and timely information on access in the EU.
The meeting will provide a platform for presenting the results to health stakeholders as well as discussing with them the challenges and opportunities for implementation.
Among the invited speakers for the event are representatives from Eurostat, OECD, Eurofound, DG SANTE and DG EMPL.
To register for the event, please click here.
Brussels, 5 June 2018
In a meeting held in the European Parliament on 5 June, the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) welcomed the Commission’s proposal regarding the future of EU cooperation on HTA and its potential to improve access to innovative health technologies for patients across the EU. This meeting, hosted by the Parliament’s Interest Group on Patient Access to Healthcare, aimed to gather health stakeholders’ perspectives on this proposal before the consideration of the Parliament’s draft report in the ENVI Committee on 7 June.
The event, jointly chaired by the Co-Chairs of the Interest Group on Access to Healthcare and PACT’s Secretary-General Stanimir Hasardzhiev, was attended by all Interest Group’s co-chairs and some 100 key health stakeholders.
Brussels, 21 May 2018
In view of the proposal by the European Commission to strengthen EU cooperation on Health Technology Assessment, the MEP Interest Group on Access will host a debate on the future of EU cooperation on HTA and its potential to improve access to innovative health technologies for patients across the EU.
By providing the platform for an exchange of views it will seek to gather the perspectives of health stakeholders before the draft report of the European Parliament is voted in ENVI. The event will take place on Tuesday, 5 June 2018 from 17:30 to 19:30 in room JAN 6Q1 in the European Parliament.
Brussels, 2 December
In response to the statement signed by more than 80 MEPs calling for continued EU engagement in healthcare, President Juncker says he is convinced that the European Union can provide high-level added value support in the field of health.
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Brussels, 28 November, European Parliament
The Patient Access Partnership (PACT) warmly welcomes the recent Country Health Profiles and Companion report, published as part of the Commission’s ‘State of Health in the EU’ initiative and developed in combination with the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. The comprehensive reports are a valuable step towards the development of evidence-based policies for meaningful heath interventions and long-term integrated care.
Bucharest, 20 November 2017
On November 20, the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) and the Coalition of Organisations of Patients with Chronic Diseases in Romania (COPAC) held a meeting in Bucharest, entitled “Patient-Centred Roundtable on Working Together for Accessible Health”, to discuss opportunities for improving cooperation between Romanian stakeholders for better access to quality healthcare in the country.
The event, organised in cooperation with the Health Committees of the Senate and the Deputy Chamber (Romanian Parliament) and the European Patients’ Forum (EPF), was endorsed by the Romanian Minister of Health – Florian Bodog.
Brussels, 19 November 2017
With the two-year “State of the Health in the EU” cycle, the European Commission has teamed up with the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies to bring together knowledge and expertise with a view to providing specific evidence-based tools for policy action. The result is a package of individual Country Health Profiles along with the Commission′s Companion Report highlighting potential areas of EU added value in healthcare.
Against this background the MEP Interest Group on Patient Access to Healthcare, in cooperation with PACT and DG SANTE, will host a debate to discuss the findings and the way forward.
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Brussels, 11 October 2017, European Parliament
The Patient Access Partnership warmly welcomes the draft Opinion, prepared by the Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investment in Health (EXPH)entitled ‘Benchmarking access to healthcare in the EU’. This work is very much in line with PACT’s priorities and therefore, the organisation welcomed the commitment of the Commission in organising a hearing on this Opinion, hosted by the European Parliament Interest Group on Patient Access to Healthcare.
Brussels, 12 September 2017, European Parliament
More than 80 Members of the European Parliament from all major political groups signed a statement calling for continued EU action in the field of health and enhanced cooperation between EU Member States.
The statement was put forward as a follow-up initiative to a recent event of the MEP Interest Group on Access to Healthcare and the Patient Access Partnership (PACT), entitled “Future Scenarios for the EU: What role for Healthcare?”which addressed the role of healthcare in future scenarios for the EU and the possibilities to strengthen and improve it.
The publication of the “White Paper on the Future of Europe” earlier this year marked the starting point of a wide-ranging and undoubtedly long delayed debate on the future direction of the EU which raised concerned about the prospect of reducing EU engagement in the area of healthcare. This stands in contrast to the the demands of the Europeans who want to see the EU doing more in healthcare (Eurobarometer survey, 2017).
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Brussels, 27 June 2017, European Parliament
The Patient Access Partnership (PACT) warmly welcomes the efforts made by the European Commission in the field of public health and calls on Member States to make health a greater EU priority and to strengthen and step up current collaboration in this field.
Brussels, 13 June 2017
In view of the recent dynamics in the EU and the discussions stemming from the White Paper on the Future of Europe, the MEP Interest Group on Access will host a debate to discuss the European added-value in the area of health and the possibilities to sustain cooperation in future.
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Vilnius, 8 June 2017, Lithuanian Parliament
On June 8, the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) and the Lithuanian Cancer Patient Coalition (POLA) held a stakeholder meeting entitled “Patient-Centred Roundtable on Working Together for Accessible Health”. The event, organized in cooperation with the Committee on Health Affairs of Lithuanian Parliament (Vilnius), Lithuanian Ministry of Health, Lithuanian Patients‘ Forum and the European Patients’ Forum (EPF), took place in the Lithuanian Parliament and was held under the auspices and with the presence of the Lithuanian Minister of Health, Prof. Dr. Aurelijus Veryga.
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Brussels, 1 March 2017, European Parliament
March 1, 2017 – The Patient Access Partnership (PACT) joins the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) with the campaign entitled “Universal Health Coverage For All”. We encourage policy-makers to ensure Universal Health Coverage for All by 2030 and foster EU cooperation on Access to Healthcare.
Brussels, 28 November 2016, European Parliament
The Patient Access Partnership (PACT) welcomes the recent joint Commission/OECD report entitled ‘Health at a Glance: Europe 2016’, which is part of the Commission’s current efforts to build a solid knowledge base as a resource for Member States in addressing challenges to their health systems. The report recognises that resources spent on ensuring better health outcomes should be seen as an investment – both with respect to the quality of life of patients as well as to society as a whole.
Sofia, 13 September 2016
On September 12-13, the Patient Access Partnership held its first Regional Conference entitled “Cooperation within the region: a way to improve access to quality healthcare in CEE”.
Brussels, 29 June 2016, European Parliament
The Patient Access Partnership (PACT) actively contributes to the discussion on access to healthcare and organised a meeting of the MEP Interest Group on Access to Healthcare on 29 June. This event was jointly chaired by MEPs Karin Kadenbach, Andrey Kovatchev, European Patients’ Forum Secretary General Nicola Bedlington and PACT Secretary General Stanimir Hasardzhiev, and provided an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to discuss the future needs of healthcare systems.
Brussels, June 13, 2016
In light of the current EU level debates and the upcoming own-initiative report of the European Parliament on "EU options for improving access to medicines", the MEP Interest Group on Access to Healthcare will host a special event to discuss European Commission activities on access to medicines on Wednesday, 29 June from 16:30 to 18:30 h in the European Parliament, room ASP 3E2 (please refer to the attached agenda).
Sofia, 3 June 2016
On 3 June 2016 the Bulgarian Minister of Health Dr. Moskov, hosted a ministerial meeting entitled “Working meeting of the ministers of health from Central and Eastern Europe on the issues of increasing challenges in the realm of the medicines policy”. The health ministers of Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia as well as high-level experts from a total of eleven CEE countries took part in the discussion (nine EU and two candidate countries).
Brussels, 2 May 2016
On behalf of the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) we are delighted to inform you that the Regional Conference of PACT will be held on 12-13 September 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The conference is organised by the National Patients’ Organisation – Bulgaria in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Bulgaria and the European Patients’ Forum (EPF). The two-day will welcome PACT affiliates from the countries in the CEE region (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, including Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey).
Brussels, 4 March 2016
The third issue of the newsletter of the Patient Access Partnership is already available. It provides an overview of the activities for the last months as well as the upcoming activities in 2016.
Click here to read the Newsletter.
Brussels, 18 February 2016
The special issue of the Journal of Comorbidity based on PACT session during the European Health Forum Gastein in October 2015 has been published.
Brussels, 11 December 2015
On 11 December 2015, PACT partners gathered at the Information Centre of the European Parliament in Brussels for the second Partners’ Assembly of the Patient Access Partnership since its inception in 2014.
Brussels, 17 November 2015, European Parliament
The Patient Access Partnership (PACT) warmly welcomes the recent Preliminary Opinion entitled ‘Access to healthcare in the EU’, issued by the Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health (EXPH). The fact that the European Commission requested the EXPH’s advice on this specific topic is a clear sign of the increasing political attention, and the advice contained in the document will support EU and national level efforts to address inequities relating to access.
Brussels, 3 November 2015
Register now for the upcoming upcoming meeting of the Interest Group on Access to Healthcare, which will be held on 17 November 2015 between 12:30 and 14:10 h at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Please confirm your participation to [email protected] by tomorrow noon (Tuesday 10 November).
Stasbourg, 2015, European Parliament
During the plenary session in Strasbourg the European Parliament adopted on Wednesday its position on the budget of the Union for the next year. As a part of the annual procedure the MEPs voted on a package of pilot projects. The experimental initiatives are key tools for the formulation of political priorities that could pave the way new long-term activities and programmes improving the lives of EU citizens.
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Brussels, October 21, 2015
The second issue of the newsletter of the Patient Access Partnership is already available. It provides an overview of the activities for the last months as well as the upcoming activities in 2015.
Gastein, 1 October 2015
On the 1st of October, the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) organised a session on “Facing the challenge of multimorbidity… how do we make it work for the patients” at the European Health Forum in Gastein. This session gathered a big number of participants from across the EU.
Brussels, 10 July 2015
The Patient Access Partnership will organise its own workshop at the European Health Forum Gastein, next 1 October 2015 at 10.45 h.
The workshop “…and how do we make it work for the patient? will be part of the parallel forum 2 “Facing the challenge of multimorbidity”, and will address the patient experience on accessing healthcare services.
Riga, 30 June 2015
The Patient Access Partnership was elected as the most tangible initiative following the Vilnius Declaration during the Latvian Presidency conference in Riga.
The Universal Health Conference which was held on 29-30 June 2015, was built on the core principles of the Vilnius Declaration and scoped out common ground where Member States can work together and support each other in the design and implementation of robust and resilient ‘all of life’ health and care services.
Brussels, 24 June 2015, European Parliament
On June 24th, 2015, took place the meeting organized by the MEPs Interest Group on Access to Healthcare "Creating Synergies between the access to healthcare agendas at EU level" and was chaired by MEP Andrey Kovatchev. The meeting was held in the European Parliament and gathered together co-chairing MEPs, EC representatives, APAs, Health attaches and healthcare stakeholders.
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Brussels, 27 January 2015, European Parliament
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) launched on 27 January 2015 the European Parliament Interest group to tackle health inequalities and enhance proper access to high-quality healthcare for all patients. The main objective of the Group is to play a major role in providing a platform for discussion and concrete action, in cooperation with patients and the healthcare community. It will also promote synergies and knowledge-sharing regarding disease specific initiatives in the EP relating to access, and other thematic interest groups to ensure maximum effectiveness.