News in general

Migraine is the number one cause of disability affecting people under the age of fifty years  ( the group with the highest contribution to workforce worldwide) making one of the highest negative economic impacts globally(1).  According to the latest analysis from the GBD study, almost 3 billion people had a headache disorder in 2016: 1.89 billion had a diagnosis of tension-type headache, and 1.04 billion had a diagnosis of migraine(2). Migraine was responsible for 45.12 million years of life lived with disability (YLD), with a peak in prevalence in women between 15 and 49 years(3). One in seven suffer from this disabling, least respected, worst managed, least recognised complex brain disorder worldwide(5).

Governmental Expert Group on Dementia holds second meeting The European Group of Governmental Experts on Dementia held its second meeting on 17 and 18 June 2019 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 20 European countries were represented at the meeting, in addition to representatives from the 2nd European Joint Action on Dementia (Act on Dementia/DEM2), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Alzheimer Europe.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Society of Neurosonology and Cerebral Hemodynamics (ESNCH) was signed in June 2019. The ESNCH is the most successful neurosonology group worldwide bringing together the world’s experts, thus representing an excellent platform for young researchers to present their work, gain experience and start a scientific collaboration.

Task Force Regulatory Affairs and Medical Devices Workshop on Medical Device Registries: The BioMed Alliance organised a joint workshop on Medical Device Registries with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT) on 17 June. The programme included speakers from the European Commission, member societies, a notified body, industry, the European Medicines Agency and experts who manage successful registries across Europe.

EFNA goes global and attends the WHA – World Health Assembly UN Geneva Headquarters from May 20 – 28 2019. Diseases know no borders. Only by truly pooling our resources and going beyond our individual disease areas, our constituencies and countries, do we stand a chance of adequately addressing the challenges of ill-health and inequalities.

In 2018, STOA completed two Scientific Foresight projects, on assistive technologies for people with disabilities, and on 3D bio-printing for medical and enhancement purposes, while preparing the ground for a new project on alternative options for crop protection in farming practices.

READING RECCOMENDATIONS: NEWS FROM OTHER SOCIETIES

The ataxia diagnostic flowchart has been developed by members of the European Reference Network for Rare Neurological Diseases (ERN-RND) in order to help guide diagnosis.

On 27 March, the European Parliament and the Council reached an agreement on the EU's future framework programme for research and innovation, the Horizon Europe.

ECNP Networks and Thematic Working Groups (TWGs)

On Tuesday, April 9, 2019, Active Citizenship Network (ACN) celebrated the 13th European Patients’ Rights Day (EPRD).

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are currently conducting their negotiations on Horizon 2020’s successor, the Horizon Europe EU research programme. The European Commission had proposed a budget of €94.1 billion while the European Parliament seeks €120 billion. The Council aims to allocate only €91 billion. The final budget will not be settled for another few months, and at the moment the negotiators are working towards an agreement on the content of the programme.

Stress reduction of patients undergoing surgical interventions

On February 7th,  2019, the EAN signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ERN – EURO - NMS mentioned above.

Alzheimer Europe examines experiences of people from minority ethnic backgrounds with dementia, in 2018 ethics report https://www.alzheimer-europe.org/News/Alzheimer-Europe/Friday-22-February-2019-AE-examines-experiences-of-people-from-minority-ethnic-backgrounds-with-dementia-in-2018-ethics-report