Academisch Ziekenhuis Leiden (Leiden University Medical Center)
LUMC
‘As an innovator, the LUMC aims to improve healthcare and people’s health’.
ID: 992669030048-83
Lobbying Activity
Response to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
3 Mar 2020
We want to thank de European Commission for the opportunity to respond to the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. As Leiden University Medical Center, as participant at the ‘Lets strive for more’ meeting in Brussels the 4th of February 2020, we strive to provide the best sustainable healthcare and work on health of both patients and citizens. We endorse the European Institutions approach as highlighted by the President of the European Commission Von der Leyen and Commissioner for Health and Food safety Kyriakides and as reflected in the roadmap.
In relation to the roadmap we underpin the approach. And we would like to make the following suggestions. Special focus for the demographic changes we expect due to an aging population can be important. Especially, the complex healthcare for the elderly, the burden on the healthcare system and comorbidity needs attention due to the current lack of research in prevention and care outcomes and therefore lack of knowledge, equality and accessibility to health care systems. In general terms, there is a need for senior awareness regarding cancer. We promote prediction models and geriatric oncology patientcare pathways focused on elderly specific outcomes. This entails a comprehensive approach, which includes social, mental and physical wellbeing as well as an interprofessional cooperation between physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, ensuring continuity of care. Such a value based, data driven approach leads to better quality of life, and accessible, sustainable healthcare (system).
In general we would like to emphasize the need for fundamental science, in this case the search for new mechanisms, biomarkers and new drug targets, as well as translational research. For example, drug repurposing (affordable medicine) is a principle that deserves more attention in this regard. This will provide the necessary steps to develop new drugs and treatments (personalised or highly precision medicine) but also innovation in health care in general. Furthermore, this approach enables physicians to select the most effective drug without side effects for each patient separately. Especially for rare diseases, where by nature a specialised research driven approach for personalised solutions is needed. Therefore we emphasize to connect the European Reference Networks for rare diseases and to use this model more broadly for more general conditions. This model as initiated by the European Commission is an excellent example where European citizens directly profit from European cooperation. As it helps to bridge equality and treatment to ensure continuity, and make opportunities more accessible.
Essential is a new value based and data driven strategy tightly connected with the European Health Data Space. This value based and data driven approach empowered by artificial intelligence can contribute strongly. For example computational oncology which will help in optimal utilization multi-dimensional information on an individual cancer to select the best target-specific cancer therapy.
The need for network care and patient center cooperation as highlighted in the roadmap is crucial in this area.
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