MMD Newsletter
Best wishes from the MEPs Mobilising for Diabetes interest group for a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! We thank you for your support in 2021 and look forward to continuing working with you in 2022 to elevate diabetes on the EU political agenda and improve the lives of more than 32 million adults living with the condition in the European Union. You are cordially invited to the webinar below!
Invitation to the Members of the European Parliament
Improving diabetes outcomes and quality of life for people living with diabetes: If Not Now, When?
25 January 2022, 14.00-15.15 CET
In January 1922, Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old boy dying from Type 1 diabetes received the first-time insulin injection. Insulin saved Leonard’s life and diabetes was no longer a death sentence. In 2022, we celebrate the centenary of insulin discovery that triggered many advances in diabetes treatments and therapies, saving the lives of millions of people living with diabetes (PwD) and reducing the daily burden of its management.
Yet, today there remains a general lack of awareness about the complexity and severity of diabetes among the public, some health professionals and many policy makers. As awareness is a pre-requisite for action and visibility is key to reducing stigma and misconception about diabetes, the MEPs Mobilising for Diabetes (MMD) Interest Group will organise a webinar to discuss the complexity of the disease, the influence of obesogenic environments, the impact of social inequalities and the psychological burden of this life-long condition.
In light of the EU Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) initiative launched by the Commission earlier this month, the webinar is an opportunity to highlight the priorities that will require your support to improve the lives of PwD, who represent 10% of the European population.
- Introduction – MEP Christel Schaldemose and MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen, co-chairs of the MEPs Mobilising for Diabetes (MMD) Interest Group;
- What is diabetes? Definition, types of diabetes, causes, symptoms and management + Q&A – Professor Chantal Mathieu, EUDF President
- Burden of diabetes in Europe – Dr Niti Pall, IDF Europe Chair
- Implementation in Europe of the Global Diabetes Compact – WHO/Europe
- Relevance of diabetes in EU programmes, including the new EU NCD initiative – Healthier Together
- Concluding remarks and call to join the MMD interest group
We look forward to seeing you on January 25!
Click here to register!
EU NCD Initiative – Healthier Together
On 15 December 2021, the European Commission held a stakeholder webinar on Healthier Together – EU Non-Communicable Diseases Initiative. The webinar was chaired by John Ryan, Director for Public Health at DG SANTE, and attended by circa 120 participants.
Overview of the initiative:
The initiative will help Member States (MS) reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It will cover the period 2022-2027 and include five strands: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and mental health and neurological disorders, and a horizontal strand on health determinants. In each of these strands, the initiative will promote the reduction of health inequalities. NGOs and civil society organisations are invited to participate in the co-creation process via the Health Policy Platform. Stakeholders’ input may then be included in the document by June 2022 that will aim at creating opportunities to revise national policies and guidelines. Key actions will be implemented depending on the MS needs and possibilities in key diseases areas, with the support from the Commission.
The next stakeholder webinars on this topic are planned for 3 February, 17 March, 27 April and 3 June 2022.
View of the diabetes community:
More than 32 million people live with diabetes in the EU – one in ten adults. The impact of this life-long condition on their health and well-being, not to mention its substantial economic burden on health budgets – estimated at about 9% of EU health expenditure in 2019, are often underestimated.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also disproportionately affected people living with diabetes (PwD) who are at heightened risk of developing a serious and more deadly form of the disease. The burden associated with the lockdown measures throughout the pandemic has constrained PwD’s ability to exercise and/or eat healthily and caused significant psychological distress. The pandemic continues to disrupt access to diagnosis, care and screening of diabetes complications, which will undoubtedly lead to severe complications over the longer term.
- The diabetes community welcomes the EU NCD Initiative and its focus on diabetes as a first step towards addressing the burden of the condition in a systematic and structured way and recognising diabetes as a key priority that requires societal, structural and organisational changes. We also support the horizontal approach to health determinants to reduce the incidence of NCDs such as diabetes, ensure equitable access to care and improve health outcomes. This transversal priority will help address modifiable risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy diets but most importantly tackle the widespread inequalities in access to care that result from socio-economic and environmental determinants of health such as poverty, climate change and the food industry.
- We welcome the scope of the initiative, ranging from data collection and knowledge sharing, health promotion and disease prevention, screening and early detection, diagnosis and treatment up to improving quality of life.
- We acknowledge the important role given to NGOs and civil society community in providing recommendations in co-creating this new initiative. We welcome the emphasis placed on ensuring multi-stakeholder collaboration with Member States (MS) and international organisations such as WHO Europe, OECD and the European Investment Bank as well as cross-sectoral collaboration among DG Sante, DG Research, DG Employment and other agencies. We need to continue working within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO targets, while establishing a common agreement on the approach to NCDs and health determinants at EU and MS level.
- In implementing this initiative, it will be crucial that the Commission and MS ensure meaningful engagement of PwD across all stages of consultation, policy development and implementation. PwD are experts in managing their condition on a daily basis and are best equipped to make decisions surrounding their care and decide what health outcomes matter most to them.
The diabetes community is committed to improving the lives of people with diabetes. We welcome the opportunity to work closely with the European Commission, Member States and international organisations, to provide further input and to co-create a Diabetes Policy Roadmap that will support MS to build back better and fairer.
Wrap Up of Key Diabetes Events
Let's act together - European Diabetes Patient Advocacy Summit
On 2 December 2021 IDF Europe and Novo Nordisk held the first event of the European Diabetes Patient Advocacy Summit Series 2021-2022. The focus of the webinar was on what changed and what was learned during the pandemic, and how the lessons learned could be used to energise diabetes within the public healthcare agenda.
We want to express our deepest gratitude to the MMD member MEP Marisa Matias for her active participation in the debate and for highlighting the complexity of diabetes and its transversality to so many domains such as social inclusion, mobility, research & innovation and others.
ACCESS TO DIABETES CARE – IF NOT NOW, WHEN? How are digital technologies and AI improving access to diabetes care?
To celebrate World Diabetes Day, MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen, MMD co-chair, and MEP Marisa Matias co-hosted the IDF Europe webinar on November 16, on the theme of the Centenary of Insulin Campaign “Access to diabetes care, if not now, when?”
The webinar titled "How are digital technologies and AI improving access to diabetes care?" focused on the role of digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in improving equitable and sustainable access to diabetes care. During the webinar, speakers explored the potential of digital technologies and AI in transforming traditional healthcare systems into personalised patient-centric systems as well as the challenges posed by these technologies and the way to overcome them.
Priorities highlighted included:
- Create interoperable data sharing and patient-centred systems to improve the life of PwD and people living with other NCDs.
- Set up a data governance framework that respects people’s security and privacy rules while ensuring data quality standards.
- Healthcare professionals (HCPs) to educate, train and guide people on the use of these technologies to improve their digital/health literacy and foster trust.
Act quickly and in a coordinated way to make these digital technologies accessible to everyone.
You can watch the webinar recording here.
The webinar report is available here.
#docday° at World Diabetes Day 2021
For the first time, and in collaboration with IDF Europe, #dedoc° hosted an international #docday on World Diabetes Day 2021. Moderated by #dedoc° founder Bastian Hauck, the event was officially opened by Niti Pall, IDF Europe Chair, who spoke on the importance of this special day, which commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of insulin by Dr. Frederik Banting. WDD #docday° then held a virtual tour of Europe, during which #dedoc voices and IDF Europe's Young Advocates talked about their celebration of World Diabetes Day in this special year.
The event demonstrated the untiring dynamism and commitment of the diabetes community to raise awareness of the condition and promote equitable and sustainable access to diabetes care.
Download the report of the event here.
Towards a more integrated care model for people living with NCDs
On 9 November 2021, to celebrate World Diabetes Day, EUDF and EFPIA held a joint webinar on the severe synergistic impacts a pandemic such as COVID-19 has on people living with one or multiple chronic diseases. Society requires a more nuanced and comprehensive approach to how we manage diseases, particularly in times of crises. The webinar discussed integrated care models and how they can help Member States better protect the health of vulnerable communities – such as people living with diabetes – both in crises and beyond.
The webinar recording is available here.
MMD Activities
MMD Campaign on Universal Health Coverage Day
Each year, Dec. 12 marks Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC). This year’s theme was Leave No One’s Health Behind: Invest in Health Systems for All. To celebrate UHC and raise awareness of the imperative of Health for All, MEPs Mobilising for Diabetes launched a campaign highlighting the role of governments and health systems in protecting everyone everywhere, especially the most vulnerable in our society.
UHC is based on the principle that everyone, everywhere should have access to quality essential health services without suffering financial hardship. It is also Target 3.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 – ‘Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.’
In many parts of Europe, people living with diabetes still do not have access to the therapies, care, supplies, technologies or education they need to achieve the best possible health outcomes. In light of this, our co-chairs, MEP Christel Schaldemose and MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen, respectively stressed the need to strengthen effective, accessible, resilient and innovative health systems and suggested that receiving good quality, effective healthcare should become an EU requirement and compulsory for Member States (MS) to fulfil this goal. MEP Alviina Alametsä underlined that access to good quality healthcare is a human right which must be guaranteed for people living with chronic diseases such as diabetes. MEP Sara Cerdas called on all stakeholders to see health as an investment and address the socio-economic determinants of health while striving to eliminate health inequities. MEP Sokol expressed the urgency with which we need to demand UHC and health systems that protect everyone.
MEP Christine Schneider underlined the key principle of UHC which is to ensure access to quality health services and medicines without placing the financial burden on the individual. Ms Schneider also recorded a video message emphasising the need to put people at the centre of all decision-making if we want to live in a healthier and more equitable world.
Finally, MEP Kateřina Konečná noted that UHC is key to reducing inequalities and improving health outcomes for all, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
The postcards and video messages from MMD members are available here.
News
Report on Medicines Shortages: Medicines availability for people living with diabetes decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic
Medicines shortages is a growing concern in many countries. The quality and continuity of patient care are severely jeopardised by shortages. Shortages also have economic consequences as pharmacists spend several hours per week on finding suitable alternatives and sourcing them. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated problems with availability of medicines and exposed vulnerabilities in pharmaceutical supply chains.
The European Commission (EC) contracted a consortium of organisations to provide an overview of medicines shortages in the EU, assess whether the current framework at EU and national level is fit for purpose to address the issue of shortages, and provide potential solutions to address shortages, taking into account their root causes and the shortcomings of the current system.
The study analysed data from the national shortage registries of 22 EU/EEA countries between 2007-2020. For example, the analysis of shortage notifications made during the final two quarters of 2019 (‘pre-COVID-19’) and the first two quarters of 2020 (‘first wave COVID-19’) highlighted a strong increase in the number of shortage notifications for diabetes medicines.
To read more about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected medicines supplies for PwD, click here.
The full report on the study of medicines shortages in the EU is available here.
DG SANTE releases the 2021 edition of the State of the Health in the EU’s Companion Report
European Commission DG SANTE, assisted by the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, has now launched the 2021 edition of the State of Health in the EU’s Companion Report.
The report consists of two parts. Part 1 highlights some of the biggest trends in the transformation of health systems. The analysis focuses on European health systems’ resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and how the lessons learned during the health crisis can be used to build back better and fairer health systems. Part 2, the Companion Report, presents key findings from the 29 Country Health Profiles.
The study's three main takeaways include:
- Understanding the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Locking in the advantages of digital innovation in healthcare delivery and public health;
- Rethinking health workforce strategies and planning after the COVID-19 pandemic.
All of the above priorities are of critical importance to people living with diabetes, their families and carers. To read why, click here.
