As COVID-19 exposed gaps and weaknesses in many European health systems which exacerbated the crisis and its impact on patients and societies, EFPIA welcomed the adoption of the EU4Health program in 2020 as an ambitious tool to both strengthen the EU’s capacity to deal with serious health threats and to support Member States in investing in resilient health systems that improve outcomes and access for all people and patients.

In view of the stakeholder consultation on the 2023 Work Programme, EFPIA reiterates the importance of prevention, preparedness & response to cross-border health threats as a key objective of the EU4Health program. The creation of a European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is a first step to putting Europe on the front foot in addressing global health threats. To attract long-term investments in high-risk R&D pandemic projects and in sustainable surge capacity during health emergencies, it will be critical for HERA to join forces and collaborate with health industries and have resources commensurate with its ambition.

The EU4Health programme could also support strategic investments that will enable health systems to become more patient-centred and efficient through a focus on outcomes that are relevant for patients. Standardised and comparable data on patient-relevant outcomes would unlock patient co-decision and choice, best practice identification and care quality improvement leading to efficiency gains over time. In this regard, EU funds could play an instrumental role in enabling the necessary financing of health informatics and implementation of data collection methods and governance structures, building on successful pilots such as the IMI H2O project, and finance value-based healthcare pilots in different health system settings.

With the European Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP), and the subsequent Healthier Together NCD (Non-Communicable Disease) Initiative, the EU has taken a leading and ambitious policy role in supporting innovative action against the leading causes of premature death in Europe, and the EU4Health programme should be leveraged to support these initiatives.

The launch of the EBCP in 2021 was a significant milestone in EU health policy, culminating in years of the evidence review, consultation, and discussion on the best path forward. However, implementing EBCP has only just begun, and the success of the initiative will set the direction of future EU policies for chronic disease management. Policymakers and private partners specialised in tech and digital are following these initiatives to assess the potential for expanding the lessons learned from cancer to other NCDs and achieving broader EU ambitions for chronic disease control.

In this regard, more action is required in cancer policy to deliver the ambitious and necessary actions in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The 2023 EU4Health programme could support the implementation of the EBCP by including in the work programme the flagship actions identified in the plan, including improving early detection through an EU-supported Cancer Screening Scheme, implementing the Cancer Diagnostic and Treatment for all initiative to improve access to biomarker testing and molecular treatment targets, and improving outcomes and survivorship through the Better Life for Cancer Patients Initiative and the European Patient Digital Centre. 

EFPIA welcomed the launch of the EU NCD initiative, and believe that the EU4Health program should help fund strategic initiatives that improves the prevention, timely diagnosis and treatment of major chronic diseases. The five strands addressed by the Initiative (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health including neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, and health determinants) account for 86% of deaths and 77% of the disease burden in the Region. The EU4Health Programme should enable the implementation of best practice and policy options including for prevention and health promotion, screening, treatment, and disease management, addressing the entire care pathway for people living with chronic diseases.

As an example of a project that would have significant impact, EFPIA would like to propose an integrated cardiovascular disease and diabetes health check. This approach should focus on the development of a screening framework based on a set of relevant risk factors for both cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Αn integrated health check at primary care level where most of Europe’s CVD-Diabetes patients are managed would be very effective in reducing the amount of people with undiagnosed CVD or Diabetes and enable earlier, safer, more effective treatment and management of these conditions.

Speaking about the EU4Health program, EFPIA Executive Director for Strategy and Healthcare Systems Thomas Allvin said: We believe that substantial investments are needed in European health systems to make them more person-centred, outcomes-focused, efficient and resilient to future crises. By funding strategic initiatives with clear EU added value, the EU4Health program can support Member States in transforming their health systems after COVID-19.