Health First Europe launches a trailblazing Insight Report on Better Screening and Secondary Prevention in Europe
Brussels, 17 September 2021 – For World Patient Safety Day, Health First Europe (HFE) published a comprehensive Insight Report entitled “The Compelling Case for Better Screening and Secondary Prevention in Europe: Lessons From Five Representative Diseases” 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).
This report outlines the burden of such diseases to the healthcare systems of the European Union and shows the solutions and concrete examples known to be effective in screening programmes for these diseases. It also lays out concrete policy recommendations to improve outcomes for patients and society throughout the EU.
“This Insight Report is potentially game-changing as it shows how much screening and secondary prevention can help to improve our healthcare systems,” said Roberto Bertollini, Honorary President of Health First Europe, and a former Chief Scientist of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. “If this report doesn’t demonstrate the importance of boosting the availability of screening programmes in Europe, I am not sure what will.”
HFE Executive Director Brandon Mitchener said at the report’s launch that the current impact of the analysed diseases on EU healthcare systems highlights the need to boost secondary prevention and screening programmes across the EU. “The use of digital tools in particular has the potential to unlock a pool of valuable knowledge in an unprecedented way to prevent diseases and identify early signals of poor health”, he said.
John Bowis, HFE Co-Patron and a former Member of the European Parliament, said that the report was “a clear warning to policymakers that the role of secondary prevention and screening needs to be taken much more seriously. These are key enablers for saving lives while ensuring the sustainability of our healthcare systems,” he said.
HFE is a non-profit, non-commercial alliance of patients, healthcare workers, academics, healthcare experts and the medical technology industry. Its vision includes having sustainable healthcare systems in Europe, enabling healthcare practitioners to innovate in new models of delivering healthcare services, developing patient-centric solutions and showcasing how “health equals wealth.”
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About HFE
Health First Europe is a non-profit, non-commercial alliance of patients, healthcare workers, academics, healthcare experts and the medical technology industry. We are joining forces to transform health care through innovative solutions. Since we believe that every European citizen should benefit from the best medical treatments available, we aim to ensure that equitable access to modern, innovative and reliable health care solutions is seen as a vital investment in the future of Europe. Our alliance was born in 2004 thanks to commitment of our co-Patrons and our members to build truly patient-centred healthcare systems in Europe.
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