Brussels, 19 February 2008 - Eucomed welcomes the important and much needed public consultation "Rare Diseases: Europe's Challenges". The association appreciates that the consultation document recognizes the importance of medical devices and medical technology in tackling this issue.
"Rare diseases typically require tailor-made treatment approaches, a need that can be met by medical devices, provided however, that regulatory provisions do not create hurdles to patients' access" says Maurice Wagner, director general of Eucomed.
Medical technology can help patients and healthcare professionals to fight rare diseases in Europe. The consultation document covers three main questions of relevance to Eucomed: the need for implementing on-line and electronic tools, the necessity of an orphan regulation of medical devices and diagnostics and the role of partners (industry and charities) in an EU action.
Eucomed believes that:
All the other questions and responses can be found in the document Eucomed's response to the Public Consultation "Rare Diseases: Europe's Challenges".
High-quality diagnosis, treatment and information for people suffering from rare diseases are priority issues for the European Commission as established in the new Health Strategy which was adopted on 23 October 2007. The Commissions seeks to reinforce cooperation between Member States by providing support to European information networks and patient organization actions.
After gathering all the contributions and expertise in all Member States, the European Commission plans to publish its findings in November 2008.
Mark Grossien
Communications Director
mark.grossien(at)eucomed(dot)be
+32 (0)2.775.92.24
