• More than 6000 rare diseases affect five percent of the population

• EU programme “e-rare” is to integrate the fragmented landscape of research

• Number of countries participating in e-rare will grow considerably in 2010

CEEP strongly welcomes the positive outcome of the Irish referendum. “After seven years of discussions and hesitations about the future of the European project, the EU is finally equipped with tailor-made political instruments”, said Ralf Resch, General Secretary of CEEP.
Those tools as well as a revised institutional structure will allow the EU to be more responsive in the globalised world.

Cancer is a major cause of ill health within the EU, yet co-ordinated attempts to tackle it have been thin on the ground until now. At a dinner workshop at the European Health Forum Gastein*, speakers from the European CanCer Organisation (ECCO), set out their plans to tackle this anomaly and to promote collaborative action between all players in the field of oncology – patients, scientists, doctors, and carers.

-Integration alone hardly leads to improvements

-Quality and cost competition between service providers necessary

-Continued deficits in European countries

“Integrated healthcare” has become one of the key concepts for European health officials in the search for efficient solutions for their countries’ healthcare systems. The quality of medical services and cost efficiency is to be increased through the improved linking of health service providers, or resident practical physicians and specialists, hospitals, nurses, physiotherapists, etc.

-Scientific and technological breakthroughs lead to significantly higher efficiency

-Big saving potential through shorter hospital stays and physician working time

-Telemonitoring can become a trend in healthcare delivery