Posílení pacientů nový příklad v managementu nemocí

Press Release
02 March 2010

European Life Science Circle at the European Parliament:
Patient Empowerment – a New Paradigm in Disease Management?

Patient empowerment and self-management of chronic diseases should be established as a priority of the new Commission’s work programme and should be positioned at the centre of all relevant EU policy initiatives, speakers at the European Life Science Circle (ELSC) agreed.

Brussels, 2 March 2010 – EDMA, the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association, strongly supports the call of leading healthcare professionals who came together at the European Life Science Circle event in the European Parliament today and called for EU policymakers to acknowledge the important role of empowerment and self-management of patients with chronic diseases.

Empowering chronic patients – with conditions such as cardiovascular and kidney diseases, diabetes and asthma – to take responsibility for the day-to-day management of their diseases is believed to significantly enhance the medical outcome of the treatment. Patients who are empowered to act self-responsibly will also contribute to lowering healthcare costs by avoiding costly and potentially life-threatening complications and co-morbidities.

EDMA Director General Christine Tarrajat highlights the important contribution of the In Vitro Diagnostic industry towards successful disease management: “In the case of diabetes, for instance, self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) as integral part of the disease management enables patients to take appropriate action based upon the test results. Reducing their HbA1c levels will delay, or even prevent, the onset of late complications which are caused by elevated blood glucose levels. Regular and structured SMBG therefore is a prerequisite to healthy lifestyle adjustments and the responsible management of the disease”, she concluded.

In line with the ELSC speakers, EDMA therefore believes that the EU Member States should introduce harmonised and structured care models for chronic diseases in all EU Member States which include education programmes that aim to support patients in assuming responsibility for their health and successfully managing their condition in order to protect the health of European citizens while at the same time controlling health spending.

Background:

EDMA, the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association represents National Associations and major companies engaged in the research, development, manufacture or distribution of In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) medical devices in Europe. Through its affiliated National Associations, EDMA represents in total more than 500 companies (or over 700 legal entities) across Europe. The mission of EDMA is to raise awareness of the importance, usefulness and added value that diagnostic information can provide to healthcare. EDMA cooperates with European institutions, patients groups, trade associations, health professionals and academia to support an appropriate regulatory system, to work towards a realistic economic environment for healthcare in Europe and to be an effective voice in globalisation.

For more information, please visit the EDMA website or contact Miriam Gargesi, EDMA Communications Manager (Tel. +32 2 777 02 79).