On 20 November, EFA attended the Annual European Medicines Agency meeting with all eligible organisations who are members of the EMA Patient and Consumer- and Healthcare professionals working parties PCWP/HCPWP. Representatives of patient and healthcare professionals had the opportunity to discuss with the agency on a range of issues including:
- Future strategic objectives of the agency, in light of new science, new technology and new regulatory developments
- EMA’s role in the implementation of the new legislation on Medical Devices, including new requirements related to Drug-Device Combinations
- EMA’s role in the implementation of the new Clinical Trial Regulation
- EMA’s training and training strategy, which included an overview of the evolution and the resources offered by the agency to patients
The issue of training was also extensively discussed during targeted breakout sessions, designed to facilitate the input by stakeholders on various aspects of the current EMA strategy. From EFA side we note that training is very much needed as the agency involves more and more patients, and in a systematic way into their work.