Success for 1 Million Genome Stakeholder Co-ordination Framework meeting, Health Union takes shape, second wave hits Italy and Germany


Welcome, colleagues, to the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) update, as we assess the success of its recent meeting yesterday (21 October), and how it ties in to the new Commission’s efforts towards “a healthy planet and a new digital world”, writes EAPM Executive Director Denis Horgan.

1 Million Genome

The Beyond 1 Million Genome meeting yesterday (21 October) was very successful, with more than 220 participants, and one of the core aims of the 1 Million Genome Stakeholder Coordination Framework initiative is to support the connection, through stakeholder alignment and implementation, of national genomics and data infrastructures, co-ordinate the harmonization of the ethical and legal framework for sharing data of high privacy sensitivity, and give practical guidance for the pan-European co-ordination of implementing genomic technologies in national and European health-care systems. 

Now, at the close of 2020s, wide-ranging changes are under way in European society and governance, with a European Commission working on an European Health Data governance framework, an European Parliament active on funding allocation for healthcare issue, and a growing conviction among Europe’s policymakers that people must be at the centre of any successful and sustainable strategy to drive forward health care. 

The ambition of new Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is a Europe that ‘must lead the transition to a healthy planet and a new digital world’. Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides acknowledges: “European citizens expect the peace of mind that comes with access to health care… and protection against epidemics and diseases.”

This discussion yesterday of personalised healthcare depicts a Europe where many chances for improvement are not yet fully being taken up. But this is not merely a catalogue of deficiencies. The variations and inefficiencies it presents are an argument for triggering radical rethinking, and for making the most of personalised healthcare. It highlights the endorsement of incentives, innovation, and investment by a new breed of Europe’s leaders that stakeholders can support translation through implementation in health-care systems.

Some meeting recommendations

In yesterday’s meeting, it was felt that secure and authorized cross-border access to genomic and other health data in the European Union is necessary to:

  • Improve patient outcomes and ensure sustainability of health and care provision in the EU;

  • learn to identify and treat cancer at a much earlier stage;

  • advance the understanding of genetic associations that cause or predispose common complex diseases;

  • strengthen the effectiveness of prevention by improving the screening accuracy and reducing its costs.

A more detailed report will follow in November. 

European Health Union en route

To fill gaps exposed by COVID-19 and ensure that health systems can face future threats to public health, an ambitious EU health programme is needed, say MEPs, who want to raise the budget for the programme to €9.4 billion, as originally proposed by the Commission, to enhance health promotion and make health systems more resilient across the EU. COVID-19 has shown that the EU is in urgent need of an ambitious EU health programme to ensure that European health systems can face future health threats. 

Gateway’ arrives just in time for second wave

Italy, Germany and Ireland, all of whom are currently suffering from the second wave of coronavirus, became the first countries to join up their local national COVID-19 apps to a European Commission-backed gateway, which will allow national health services to share data between themselves. 

Is coronavirus undermining German democracy? 

A heated debate is under way over who should decide on COVID-19 regulations in Germany. Critics argue that Chancellor Angela Merkel and the state premiers are bypassing parliament in their bid to fight the pandemic. Repeatedly Chancellor Merkel met with all 16 premiers of Germany’s powerful federal states to decide on measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic. After the latest one, last week, politicians across the spectrum began complaining that, for months now, such measures were all decided behind closed doors and without due parliamentary debate or consultation. 

Among the most vehement critics of this apparent marginalization of parliament is Florian Post, a member of the Bundestag and legal affairs expert with the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partners in Angela Merkel’s coalition government. “For nearly nine months now, regulations have been put in place by local, regional and central authorities which are restricting people’s freedoms in a manner unprecedented in post-war Germany,” he told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper. “And not even once has an elected parliament been called on to vote on the measures,” he complained.

Health passport’ set to fly in

A new digital health passport is to be piloted by a small number of passengers flying from the UK to the US for the first time under plans for a global framework for Covid-safe air travel. The CommonPass system, backed by the World Economic Forum (WEF), is designed to create a common international standard for passengers to demonstrate they do not have coronavirus. However, critics of similar schemes point to concerns over the sensitivity and specificity of the tests in various countries amid fears over greater monitoring over people’s movements.

French run out of flu jabs

The annual flu vaccination campaign in France was only launched last week, yet already pharmacies across the country have sold out of doses. Desperate to avoid hospitals facing the combined pressure of flu patients and Covid-19 patients this winter, the French government launched a greatly expanded flu vaccination programme this year, urging anyone in a risk group to get vaccinated as soon as possible. 

But demand has far outstripped what the government anticipated, and just a week after the campaign was launched on 13 October, pharmacies across the country are declaring rupture de stock (sold out) of vaccines. Around 60% of pharmacies are reporting shortages of the flu vaccine. Gilles Bonnefond, president of the pharmacists union l’ Union des syndicats de pharmaciens d’officine (USPO) told France Info: “We have already vaccinated nearly five million people in less than five days. “This is almost half of what was done all last year during the entire vaccination campaign.”

President Sassoli seeks prolongation of working methods

European Parliament President David Sassoli says the Parliament has “worked to ensure…that it can continue to perform its core functions”, suggesting a possible prolongation of pandemic working methods. “This is a clear example of how Parliament is adapting and fulfilling its role under even the most challenging circumstances,” Sassoli said.

Coronavirus second wave brings EU summit

European Union leaders will hold a video-conference next week to discuss how to better cooperate against the COVID-19 pandemic as infections rise, European Council President Charles Michel said on Wednesday (21 October). 

The video-summit, to be held on 29 October, will be the first of a series of regular discussions that EU leaders have committed to hold to tackle the pandemic at a time when most of the member countries report alarming figures confirming a second wave. “We need to strengthen our collective effort to fight COVID-19,” Michel said on Twitter. 

The discussion, due to start in the late afternoon, will take place a day after the Commission is expected to announce new plans to strengthen coordination among EU states on testing strategies, contact tracing and quarantine length, officials told Reuters. The EU’s 27 nations fought COVID-19 with different, sometimes contrasting measures, in the first months of the pandemic. The tighter co-ordination is expected to prevent a repeat of the divisions seen after the first wave. 

And that is everything from EAPM for now – do stay safe, enjoy the end of your week, and the weekend.

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