The Ministry of Health held a High Level Conference yesterday at Cercle Cité, to discuss how the government can make Personalised Medicine available to more citizens and integrate it into clinical practice.
The conference was held due to Personalised Medicine's position now, more than ever, at the heart of societal debate, with the Luxembourgish Presidency declaring its wish to launch a reexamination of public healthcare system.
The High Level conference attracted many stakeholders to Luxembourg: public health decision makers, representatives from the Commission, patient organisations and various other European umbrella organizations representing interest groups and associations actively engaged in the field of Personalised Medicine.
The opening session of the Conference was presented by Minister for Health, Minister for Equal Opportunities, Lydia Mutsch; European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis; Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Michel Government, Maggie de Block; former President of the European Brain Council and consultant to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Mary Baker; and Jean Monnet Professor of European Public Health and Head of the Department of International Health at Maastricht University, Helmut Brand.
“Personalised Medicine is all about the patient and innovation. Personalised Medicine starts with the patient," stressed Health Minister Lydia Mutsch. "It features big potential for improving the health of many patients and ensuring better outcomes of health systems’ efficiency and transparency”.
Moreover, in times of budgetary constraints, facilitating better-targeted and more cost-efficient treatment to a potential 500 million patients in 28 EU Member States is in line with the Europe 2020 strategy and the aims of the Juncker Commission. The EU's strategy, launched in 2010, emphasises social inclusion and poverty reduction, as well as employment; R&D; climate/energy; and education.
“The challenge to be addressed is to put into place a framework which allows to deliver the right treatment to the right patient at the right moment, in accordance with the principle of universal access to high quality health care," continued Minister Mutsch. However, many barriers and challengers are reportedly still preventing the integration of Personalised Medicine into clinical practice and daily care.
Some of the questions raised during the Conference concerned Personalised Medicine's contribution to the overall health of a larger percentage of the population, its potential for financial sustainability of the healthcare system, best practices from across Europe to employ in the project and the achievement of a more targeted use of healthcare services. The Council's subsequent conclusions will be adopted by the 28 health ministers during a Council on the 8th of December 2015.
For Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, the aim of the Conference is to make Personalised Medicine evolve from a 'tailor made' approach towards a readily accessible concept for all, by means of a reinforced, multidisciplinary cooperation at the European level. Collaboration between Member States is crucial in order to make access to Personalised Medicine a reality for patients.
"Personalisation will change prevention programmes for obesity or cancer and other complex chronic conditions – we need to find out how.” commented Andriukaitis.
The Luxembourgish Presidency has reported its aims to lay the ground for a long term patient centered strategy involving EU decision makers and regulators in the area of public health, involving all relevant stakeholders.
Photos by Ministry of Health (Top: L-R: Dr Alexandre Bisdorff, President of LBC; Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Health Commissioner; Lydia Mutsch, Minister of Health; Mars Di Bartolomeo, President of the Chamber of Deputies. Bottom: Conference audience)
