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Prevention and early diagnosis

Knowledge is power: knowing a condition allows us to act promptly and prevent harm. Screening and early diagnosis play a key role in helping patients to live healthier and longer lives. Regular exams and screening tests can detect disease in its earliest stages substantially, increasing the chance of curing it and helping patients to return to their original health. It means better quality of life for the patient and reduced cost for the system. While primary prevention aims to reduce the incidence of diseases by encouraging healthy lifestyle choices, secondary prevention (screening and early detection) aims to reduce mortality by slowing or stopping the progression of a disease. EU health policy currently focused on primary prevention, by developing strategies and supporting Member States in promoting lifestyle improvements, better nutrition, healthy aging, physical activities etc. EU action on secondary prevention is still limited.

The EU has worked on several disease-related strategies but a comprehensive approach to better integrate primary and secondary preventive strategies to tackle the current inequalities in disease control is still missing. More needs to be done. Accordingly, to 2017 Eurostat data on preventive services (e.g. cancer screening), access to early diagnosis might vary significantly across countries challenging EU goal to give all people living in the EU access the same high-quality healthcare. It is necessary to foster a new approach to disease prevention which support and enable the full range of potential of screening and diagnostic programmes for the benefit of patients, health systems and society.

To support the shift from a curative-oriented approach to more prevention, prediction and better care for the population, digital solution and diagnostic information have the potential to unlock a pool of valuable knowledge in an unprecedented way to prevent diseases and identify early signals of ill-health.

More about Prevention & Early diagnosis

A community-based survey of the general public’s knowledge, behaviour and awareness related to antimicrobial resistance
2021 || News

The European AMR Patient Group invites you to fill in the pan-European survey to assess the level of knowledge and awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and health-associated infections (HAIs) among 5 European countries, namely Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the UK.

PRESS RELEASE: Health First Europe launches a trailblazing Insight Report on Better Screening and Secondary Prevention in Europe
2021 || News, Press release

For World Patient Safety Day, Health First Europe (HFE) today published a comprehensive Insight Report entitled The Compelling Case for Better Screening and Patient Safety in Europe: The Example of Five Common Diseases on five disease areas that affect millions of European citizens each year and how the European Union could and should do a better job for its citizens. The report focuses on breast cancer, type 2 Diabetes, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), heart failure and severe combined immune deficiencies (SCID).

EVENT SUMMARY: My City-Lab Talk Series - AI and cardiovascular diseases
2020 || My City-Lab Talk Series

The latest My City-Lab Talk Series on AI took place on 18 November in the framework of the digital Annual Congress of the European Health Management Association (EHMA).

EDITORIAL: Knowledge is power (to the patients): new collection explains heart failure clinical guidelines
2019 || Members news

Health First Europe's member, the Heart Failure Policy Network, published its editorial on the latest European Society of Cardiology (ESC) clinical guidelines for heart failure. Guidelines remain a vital foundation for all patient advocacy activities, given that their mission is to scrutinise HF care in their country, locality or specific population.

EDITORIAL: Preventing hospital associated venous thromboembolism
2019 || Editorial, Members news

The European Thrombosis and Haemostasis Alliance (ETHA) is an association of 22 national European thrombosis and haemostasis associations representing medical professionals in the field of clotting and bleeding disorders.

EDITORIAL: What can we do to improve SCID?
2019 || Editorial, Members news

Severe Combined Immunodeficiencies or SCID is a devastating group of diseases by which babies are born without a functioning immune system. No immune system means that they can contract any infection or virus they are exposed to, without any means of defending themselves against them.

NEWS: Today is the World Mental Health Day, time to foster inclusion through innovative hearing care
2018 || News

According to WHO, around 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss and 34 million of these are children. Unaddressed hearing loss poses an annual global cost of US$ 750 billion. Interventions to identify and address hearing loss are cost-effective and can bring great benefit to patients and the whole society.

EVENT SUMMARY: My City-Lab Talk Series – Biobanking: indispensable tool or ethical concern?
2018 || Event summary, My City-Lab Talk Series

The second meeting of the City-Labs Talk Series was entitled “Biobanking: indispensable tool or ethical concern?” to discuss to what extent public health could benefit from biobanking. Key future ethical and technical challenges were also discussed.

EVENT SUMMARY: Shaping the future of public health towards screening and early diagnosis
2018 || Event summary

On 7 June 2018, policymakers and health representatives met within the framework of the European Parliament Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care.

EVENT SUMMARY - Lunch Debate “Hear The Future … and prepare for it”
2018 || Event summary

On 6th March 2018, in conjunction with the World Hearing Day, policymakers and EU stakeholders, met in the European Parliament to raise awareness on the social and economic impact of hearing loss in our society.

NEWS: WHO calls for action to stem the rise in hearing loss
2018 || News

Some 900 million people could suffer from disabling hearing loss by 2050, according to new estimates released by the World Health Organization on the occasion of World Hearing Day on 3 March.

NEWS: The Coalition on Hearing loss and Disability launches its Manifesto
2017 || News

Today - the Coalition on Hearing loss and Disability launches its Manifesto! The members of the Coalition join hands to promote actions to tackle the impacts of hearing loss and improve access to hearing devices.

EDITORIAL: International Day of Disabled Persons - Health First Europe urges the EU to speed up integration for disabled people!
2004 || Editorial

For over a decade now, the 3rd of December, the “International Day of Disabled Persons” has served as a reminder of the challenges on the way towards full integration of persons with disabilities, in a political as well as social and economic context. The Day also offers an opportunity to consider progress in terms of political participation, socio-economic integration, access to treatments and assistive technologies as well as general awareness of disability issues.

EVENT - EP Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care – The Compelling Case for Better Screening and Secondary Prevention in Europe
2021

Health First Europe and the Co-chairs of the EP Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care would like to make a tangible contribution to the debate on secondary prevention and screening.

EVENT- EP Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care – Strengthening the resilience and resource efficiency of EU health systems: A call for an integrated approach
2021

Join the virtual meeting of the EP Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care, to discuss how to strengthen the resilience and resource efficiency of EU health systems.

EVENT - EP Interest Group virtual meeting - Transforming healthcare: Prevention at the heart of European health systems
2020

Join the virtual meeting of the EP Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care, to discuss secondary prevention at the heart of European health systems

EVENT: My City-Lab Talk Series “Biobanking: indispensable tool or ethical concern?”
2018

Join us for the second meeting of the City-Labs Talk Series: Biobanking: indispensable tool or ethical concern?

EVENT: Innovative Health Systems Reform: Shaping the future of public health towards screening and early diagnosis
2018

Screening and early diagnosis play a critical role in detecting a disease in its earliest stages before any symptoms become noticeable.

PUBLICATION: New Insight Report on The Compelling Case for Better Screening and Secondary Prevention in Europe
2021

Health First Europe is delighted to announce the launch of its newest report “The Compelling Case for Better Screening and Patient Safety in Europe: The Example of Five Common Diseases”.

FACTSHEETS: Power of knowledge - secondary prevention to improve patients outcomes
2018

In the frame of the Meeting of the EP Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care held on 7 June 2018, HFE published 5 fact-sheets on the power of knowledge and the value of screening, focused on:

PUBLICATION: Manifesto on Hearing Loss and Disability
2017

Around 20% of women and 30% of men in Europe suffer from a degree of hearing loss by the age of 70. Globally, 10% of those suffering from hearing loss suffer from severe hearing loss.

PUBLICATION: Report on Women’s health equals wealth and the importance of screening
2009

Women are a positive force for improving health across Europe. Their health is a productive economic factor in terms of employment, innovation and economic growth.