Access to healthcare is as important as healthcare itself. The Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health’s, formed by the European and international health care expert community stablished by the European Commission (EC), presented a draft opinion entitled ‘Benchmarking access to healthcare in the EU’.
The hearing was organised by the European Commission and hosted by the European Parliament Interest Group on Access to Healthcare on the 11th October. The Patient Access Partnership (PACT) – that EFA partner with - welcomed the Commission’s focus on the need to involve stakeholders at all levels of the policy development process and took the opportunity to call for an extended consultation period in relation to the Opinion.
Attendants had the opportunity to express their commitment to join efforts in closing gaps in access to healthcare, to learn about possible approaches, to set benchmarks in access to healthcare and about policy levers guiding Member States to close these gaps and to learn how the Opinion could be used.
MEP Andrey Kovatchev, chaired the event and underlined the importance of accessibility. MEP Biljana Borzan stressed the need for the EU level to support governments in their efforts to tackle healthcare challenges and related access gaps, such as the growing burden of chronic disease due to demographic ageing. Providing governments with evidence based information on addressing access gaps can help them define solutions.
Other topical subjects such as e-health were also raised by Lieve Wierinck MEP, who considered it key in tackling health gaps, for example, supplying concrete solutions for people living in remote areas.
More: http://www.eupatientaccess.eu/page.php?i_id=138
Read the full report
Read the full draft opinion on Benchmarking access to healthcare in the EU: