Value Of Patient Involvement In Innovation
©DIA
On 19 March, EPF Secretary General Nicola Bedlington took part in a panel discussion about the value of patient involvement in the delicate equation of the costs and benefits in medicines’ innovation.
The panel took place in Hamburg in the framework of the 28th annual meeting of the Drug Information Association (DIA), an initiative bringing together healthcare developments professionals to discuss current topics of medicines innovation.
In her intervention, Nicola underlined “the added value of patient involvement in the recent reflections on process and pharmaceutical innovation, arguing that patient engagement is key throughout the whole life cycle approach where - from identifying unmet needs right through to real world evidence collection”. This in turn requires investment in patient education and also a systematic and structured approach to engaging patients through the entire process of innovation, added Nicola citing as good example the EUPATI programme that focusses on equipping patients with education and to complement their own unique experiential knowledge. Such education tools facilitate patients’ work with regulators, HTA/ ethics committees, and ensures pharmaceutical legislation is properly implemented.
An obvious link can be made between patient involvement and patient empowerment, the topic of our main campaign since May 2015. With its three tenets, information and health literacy; a new dialogue with health professionals and shared decision-making and self-management the empowerment of patient remains a critical pillar for such systems innovation to ensure sustainable, quality, health and social systems of the future.
Contact person: Nicola Bedlington, Secretary General.