Improving the quality of life of older people is a priority for the European Commission, that has realised a new video on the importance of active and healthy ageing and targets a larger public.
The Health Commissioner Tonio Borg recorded a video message in occasion of the VIII European Patients’ Rights Day. He highlighted the important role of patients’ organisations and stated that although there is no consensus among EU countries about patient empowerment, it means ensuring they are fully informed and in control of their own health care.
“The role of civic organizations in the empowerment of patients with chronic diseases has been underestimated for too long. It is important that policy makers let organizations and patients actively partecipate in the management of chronic diseases. Not only to better their cure, but to cope with the caring, social, relational and psychological impacts of their disease”. Read the declarations of Antonio Gaudioso, Secretary general of Cittadinanzattiva in our press release
The speakers examined the different chronic disease networkssuccessful experiences and their impacts on political decision making with examples of activities and objectives European networks can develop and achieve with a unified voice of different organisations.
One of the objective of the conference was to share best practices (BP) of different citizens and patients’ organisations on the two dimensions of patient’s empowerment, as defined by ACN:
- Improvement of a person’s capabilities to effectively self-manage his/her chronic disease;
- Enhancement of patient groups’ capacities to participate efficiently in health policies.
The Associations who participated in the conference called for new Members of the European Parliament and all European Institutions to support civic and patient organizations in their activities of Self-management & Education, Participation & Evaluation, Cooperation, Innovation, Information & Communication by producinga Joint declaration to improve the empowerment of citizens with chronic and rare diseases and their organizations.
The panel and discussion of the second day of the conference considered the importance of engaging the patient voice in the formulation and support of national and international policies that promote pharmaceutical and other medical research that leads to new preventions, treatments and cures for chronic diseases for which there are few, if any adequate treatments and cures.
By David Taylor, Professor of Pharmaceutical and Public Health Policy, UCL School of Pharmacy and chairman of the second day of the VIII European Patients’ Rights Day.
Read the article written by Tessa Richards, senior editor/patient partnership, BMJ, who attended the VIII European Patients’ Rights Day.
On the occasion of European Patients’ Rights Day, the European Commission issued a statement listing 10 benefits patients may enjoy due to existing EU legislation.