EU health research has made significant strides in better knowledge on prevention and care related topics, but how can research actually promote equality in health. The third forum of the Horizon 2020 Scientific Panel for Health (SPH) checked the status quo on challenges in health equality and health research in order to discuss the ways forward to improve health equality.
Patient perspective was put forward by Radu Canescu, who affirmed the challenging situation for Romanian patients and Stanimir Hazardjev from the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) on inequalities on access to care across the EU and need for EU to help balance and show best practices.
The event was a good mix of the newest EU member states (the EU 13), public health groups, academia, industry and the European Commission to advance the topic of equality in health as inequalities are very persistent and need to be multisectorally and consciously addressed. There are good examples, especially local (Portugal, Cascais) how research and data can directly help policy, for the benefit of people themselves.
It is not useful to separate prevention and biomedical research because they completely depend on each other. The overall idea of the SPH is to coordinate European health research and implementation through a new structure allowing it ‘European Council of Health Research’ that would bring all actors together for true maximisation and dissemination of efforts.
EFA’s Susanna Palkonen attended the event and follow up discussions in the SPH Plenary meeting following the event. This rich event will be compiled into a report and in the meantime it can be webstreamed. The presentations will be published online. Click here for more information and web streaming or visit the PACT website.