#EAPM: Estonia unveils health and data plans for presidency
Estonia took over the rotating presidency of the European Union from Malta on 1 July, and its programme for the next six months has been published, writes European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) Executive Director Denis Horgan.
In health, politicians in the capital Tallinn have identified two priorities: tackling harmful use of alcohol and advancing digital innovation. The latter is particularly crucial in terms of personalised medicine, which relies heavily on the collection, storage and sharing of vital health data.
The Presidency says it will also work on other topics, such as antimicrobial resistance and sustainable responses to HIV and TB. Estonia plans to organise a high-level conference “to promote e-health and the benefits of digital health for all European citizens and the sustainability of health systems”.
At that conference the Tallinn Declaration on a Digital Health Society will be signed. Then, towards the end of the year, in December, the EU Council Conclusions will be proposed to the health ministers for adoption.
These conclusions will be as crucial as the landmark Luxembourg Council Conclusions on access to personalised medicine, which emerged in December 2015 at the end of the Grand Duchy’s own presidential term. The Estonian presidency also envisages that it “may be faced with the task of advancing Council discussions on the voluntary mechanisms of pricing co-operation and sustainable health systems”.
On a general level, Estonia notes the ambitious and ongoing task of creating European unity in the face of “unprecedented challenges”, (such as Brexit) but says it has “the strength and capability to turn challenges into opportunities”. In the arena of health, Estonia says it wants to launch a discussion to promote “co-operation and coordination on e-health”.
This will have the goal of creating “the necessary preconditions for a wider use and cross-border movement of health data for the purposes of treatment, research and innovation and to promote data-based innovation in health care”.
EAPM and its stakeholders welcome this commitment by Tallinn, as well as the fact that Estonia is keen to focus EU cooperation on practical solutions that give people electronic access to – and greater control over the use of – their health data.
In addition, the presidency aims to enable citizens to consent to securely sharing their health data for the purposes of e-services. The presidency says that the EU “should end the unjustified data location restrictions of non-personal data, achieve legal clarity on the ownership of non-personal data and ensure the reliable storage and exchange of data based on the ‘once-only’ principle in the public sector”.
Estonia says it is planning a broad debate on the free movement of data and on measures boosting the data economy, and this too is welcomed by the Alliance. Tallinn has also said that it will strive for “an eGovernment supporting the single market and built on the important principles of a well-functioning digital society: the ‘digital by default’, ‘once-only’ and ‘no-legacy’ principles and the free movement of data”.
The presidential document notes that “the development of a digital society has opened up many new opportunities, while making us more vulnerable, creating new risks and exacerbating existing risks, such as the malicious use of technology”.
It says that, in cyberspace, Europe must stand by its values and protect its security. Crucially, it adds that bringing e-privacy legislation in line with today’s needs, and the objectives of the data protection reform, will contribute to increasing the level of trust”. Estonia also says it “wants to move forward with the negotiations on the ePrivacy Regulation”.
The free movement of data is essential for the development of a digital society, it believes, stating that with technological progress, “data has become a resource and a key driver of social development and economic growth”.
It notes that the EU is in the early stages of a data-driven economy and that the presidency will stress the need to develop a digital society in all areas of life, given that the internet and digital technologies “change lives, jobs and societies”, being integrated across all economic sectors and walks of life.
But the presidency cautions that “technological progress also involves risks to our security and democracy”. Estonia says it will put together several events, plus a digital summit, to promote “open-minded discussions about Europe’s digital future”.
The European Alliance for Personalised Medicine, and its multi-stakeholder membership. will support Estonia in all of its endeavours in this crucial field, for the benefit of all patients across the European Union.
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Category: Estonia, EU, European Alliance for Personalised Medicine, Frontpage, Health, Personalised medicine
