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EAPM: Suksesvolle IVDR-vergadering dui die weg na toekomstige samewerking aan

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Good afternoon, health colleagues, and welcome to the second European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) update of the week, in which we discuss the successful In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR) meeting conducted by EAPM yesterday (22 July), and other pressing health issues, skryf die uitvoerende direkteur van EAPM, Dr. Denis Horgan. 

IVDR issues raised

Yesterday, EAPM was pleased to have conducted a successful meeting on In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR), with more than 73 representatives from 15 countries participating as well as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and member states’ representatives. 

The IVDR will come into force on 26 May 2022. There are a number of areas in which there is a lack of awareness or clear guidance to support implementation at member state level. The main areas of concern relate to two issues, namely the limited capacity within Notified Bodies to grant CE marking in a timely manner, with a bottleneck occurring in the approval of some IVDs which are likely to be used for patient selection for use with precision medicines. The Commission’s Medical Device Coordination Group (MDCG) Task Force is reviewing this.

In addition, a significant proportion of predictive testing in Europe to support access to oncology precision medicines is delivered through the use of laboratory developed tests (LDTs), and there will be a new legal requirement for labs to use commercially approved tests (CE-IVD) in place of their current LDTs. If there is no CE-IVD commercial test available, public laboratories may be able to use an LDT, subject to certain provisions in the IVDR. The lab will be required to meet all the relevant requirements for safety and performance, whilst carrying out the manufacture under an appropriate quality management system.

Although health institutions are broadly aware of the IVDR, further guidance for laboratories on compliance with its key provisions would be welcomed, particularly on the exemptions to the Regulation granted under Article 5. An MDCG Task Force has very recently been established to develop such guidance, although there is little time left for laboratories to prepare for the regulation. 

Another key issue was whether member states are expecting cost impacts as a result of the IVDR (incurred through either the switch from LDTs to CE-IVDs or the need to improve their laboratory’s quality and performance processes), and whether they have engaged with their national health authority or other relevant stakeholders on this issue. 

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Finally, a key outcome of the meeting was the issue of how the regulation can facilitate some of the solutions that were proposed by member states’ representatives, and a meeting will be organized with the Commission and member states at a later date. 

On to other EU health news...

Making Europe fit for the digital age

The EU continues to lag behind China and the US when it comes to investments into key technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned. “Europe is still punching well below its weight. I believe this is because of two main reasons. The first one obvious, a lack of investment,” she said. 

While European companies invest massively in research and development in sectors such as automotive or pharma, “our investment in other fields still lags behind the US and China” she added. “Artificial intelligence and quantum computing are two good examples, and due to this, far too many European startups in the tech world have had to leave the continent in order to scale up.”

Bulgaria creates patients rights’ body

Bulgaria’s council of ministers has given the go-ahead to the creation of a new directorate for patients rights under the health ministry. The new body will aid the health ministry in ensuring that patients rights are protected and work on creating programs and guidelines to improve patient protections. Generally, in Bulgaria the rights envisaged in the European legislative framework have been regulated. 

A person’s rights, including in a situation of illness (when a person is in the position of a “ patient” ) are part of the human rights regulated by the UN convention ratified in Bulgaria in 1992. 

The citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria are entitled to accessible health care and health insurance (Art. 52 ofthe Constitution, Art. 33, 35 of the Health Insurance Act (HIA)), healthy environ-ment and conditions of work, guaranteed food quality and protection against abuse of their personality. Each patient is entitled to obtain the best healthcare in conformity with the legislation. 

Cyber concerns on health 

Plans to set up an EU rapid-response cyber unit that could quickly respond to attacks like the recent ransomware hack of Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) have been unveiled. Across Europe, cyberattacks rose 75% last year, with 756 such incidents logged, including an increasing number of attacks on health-care systems, representing a growing risk to society with critical infrastructure at stake, according to the European Commission. “We have a lot of cyber enemies around us,” 

European Commissioner Thierry Breton said. “Ireland’s public healthcare system suffered a pretty strong ransomware attack. I believe it affected a system with more than 80,000 computers, so that was something which was pretty, pretty strong. It could have been a very important plus, if we could have sent dedicated experts very quickly to react even faster, because we know that, of course, the longer you wait the worse it is.” 

The HSE expects it will take as long as six months to recover from the attack, with many hospital and patient data systems still affected. The cyberattack was part of a growing trend of attacks on critical systems, including on the Colonial Pipeline in the US.

Spain offers to test-run the EU's AI regulation

Spain has pitched itself to the European Commission as a laboratory to test the Artificial Intelligence Act - with more 117 AI ethics initiatives springing up around the world, initiatives to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) have sprung up around the world, spearheaded by the likes of Spain, OECD and UNESCO. It‘s time to harmonize and consolidate, a conference on AI ethics held under the auspices of Slovenia’s presidency of the EU Council heard this week. “We are clearly at a developmental point where you’ve got a lot of actors right now contributing to this movement from principles to practice, and we simply need to work together in a multistakeholder way to harmonize these approaches,” said David Leslie, of the Council of Europe’s Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI). 

WTO and WHO demand more vaccines

The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) The World Trade Organization (WTO) have mapped critical inputs for the production of COVID-19 vaccines, in a bid to clarify complex supply chains for sourcing raw materials and components. The organizations this week published an indicative list of 83 inputs, most of which cover the manufacturing of coronavirus jabs, but also those relevant to storage, distribution and administration. It covers the vaccines produced by AstraZeneca, Janssen, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, including product details and their likely HS codes when exported. The list was jointly produced with the Asian Development Bank, the OECD and the World Customs Organization, as well as representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, academia and logistics. It is subject to further modification and improvement depending on expert advice, the WTO says. The exercise was carried out amid concerns over the rate of vaccine production.

MEPs call for mutual recognition of intensivists

While Europe is getting ready to spend a second summer under the shadow of COVID-19, European decision-makers are pushing forward an ambitious agenda and preparing to deliver a more resilient and sustainable European Health Union. To make the best use of the hard-learned lessons from the pandemic, policymakers are now joining the call of the heroes of this unprecedented health crisis: the health-care workers in Intensive Care Units (intensivists) who came under enormous pressure and outdid themselves constantly to save lives. Pandemics don’t stop at our borders and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) acknowledge the need for European solutions to a European problem. In a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, MEPs urge for intensive care medicine to be recognized as a main pillar of the new European Health Union. According to the MEPs, there is a lack of mutual recognition for intensive care medicine training among many EU countries, which prevents a fast and efficient European response in times of pandemics and other cross-border health threats.

Good news to end: EU countries double vaccine-sharing promise to 200M doses

EU countries have committed to sharing 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2021, doubling a previous commitment.

The Commission has also pointed today to its other efforts to increase access to vaccines in Africa in particular, however the EU remains firmly opposed to a waiver of intellectual property rights for coronavirus vaccines.

Dit is alles van EAPM vir nou - sorg dat u veilig en gesond bly en 'n uitstekende naweek het, tot volgende week.

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