Interview with Richard Bergström ahead of the Riga Conference
25.06.15
In 2013, several leading health organisations came together under the umbrella of the Lithuanian Presidency for a highly successful conference that resulted in the 2013 Vilnius Declaration, calling for immediate action in several areas.
One and a half years after the Vilnius Declaration, it is important to seize the political momentum and to build on actions that were proposed at that time. The goal of the Riga Conference will be to identify strategies to harness citizen participation with a view to creating efficient and equitable European health systems.
In what practical ways does this build on the Vilnius Declaration?
The Vilnius Declaration showed that there was a need to establish a long-term political agenda regarding healthcare systems and sustainable outcomes, supported by a variety of stakeholders. The desired outcome of the Riga Conference will be a Roadmap with an agenda for the coming years, supported not only by the incoming Presidencies, but also by the European institutions, the WHO, patient organisations and several important stakeholders.
What are the main challenges to creating outcomes-driven, sustainable healthcare models across Europe?
EFPIA believes that healthcare systems must recognize and reward the additional patient benefit and improved outcomes delivered by medicines. At present, though, Europe's healthcare systems face significant budget pressures due to a number of trends, including the growth in chronic diseases and ageing populations.
In parallel, R&D pipelines are delivering new healthcare solutions that will contribute to a significant improvement in the management of acute and chronic diseases. While they will inevitably have a short-term impact on disease management budgets, simultaneously they may deliver significant efficiencies for social security and healthcare budgets in the mid- to long term.
How will the conference and the Riga Roadmap seek to address these challenges?
The evolution from the current price/volume approach to products and services towards a health outcomes focus may help to deconstruct the silo-mentality applied to healthcare/social security budgets. The desired effect would be to move away from the idea of focusing on medicines alone within the framework of health budget management.
This could also contribute to reconciling the tension between short-term budget imperatives and long-term benefit, together with sustainability for patients, societal advantages and secure, continued access to innovative products/services. Together with other stakeholders, EFPIA is keen to discuss these issues.