During the summer, EFA had the chance to provide feedback on the development of the work programme 2018-2020 of Horizon 2020 (the European Union’s Research and Innovation Framework Programme) in response to the societal challenges Health, Demographic Change and Well-being.
The draft programme is already quite comprehensive and will certainly provide new funding opportunities of interest for people with allergy, asthma and COPD. Moreover, the importance of involving the patients in research is emphasized several times in the document.
The programme will prioritise seven vertical themes, including Personalized Medicine, Non-communicable diseases, Paediatrics, Public Health and Prevention and Active and Healthy Ageing, and four horizontal themes, namely Big data, e- and mHealth, Integration of care, Environment.
However, we think that some sub-themes require further investigation, e.g.:
- patient stratification, early and better diagnosis
- developing awareness and empowerment among all stakeholders, patients and healthcare professionals in particular
- bringing true innovation to the market, including regulatory aspects
- improving European public infrastructures and shaping sustainable healthcare system
- identify, understand and better classify the different forms of NCDs, their progression, and effect on the immune system;
- understand the still unknown causes of some of the most common chronic diseases, such as asthma and allergy.
- Providing guidance to patients for identifying the most suitable e- or mHealth device
Please find our complete response to the H2020 consultation here.
To know more about our role on EU projects please visit our dedicated research section.