Hematology is one of few medical disciplines that have made significant steps in realizing the promise of personalized medicine. Together with ESMO and Eurocan Platform and in the context of our membership of the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM), EHA was involved in the organization of a Roundtable  ‘Oncology/Haematology: How to provide the right prevention and treatment to the right patient at the right time’.

Access to medicines is a fundamental element of the human right to health. While recognizing the need to keep our health systems affordable, we see great danger in hematologists having to prioritize patients, substitute standard for improvised regimens or choose unproven treatment options. As part of our mission to promote excellence in clinical practice in hematology we call upon the EU to promote knowledge building, increase transparency and take evidence-based measures that remove unnecessary barriers to patient access to medicines in Europe.

Trainees and specialists in hematology must be fit for practice. It is our mission to promote excellence in education in European hematology. To improve patient care and public health it is essential to raise and maintain the skills and competences of hematologists to an equally high standard across European countries. Therefore, we aim to harmonize and improve training and education in hematology in Europe.

It’s in the blood of hematologists to do research. It is our mission to promote research in European hematology. To sustain and improve research in blood disorders, it is essential to secure funding. Therefore, we seek to improve funding opportunities for research in blood disorders in Europe.

It’s in the blood of hematologists to do research. It is our mission to promote research in European hematology. To sustain and improve the discovery (or the verification of the effects) of medicines to treat blood disorders it is essential that the requirements for clinical research add value, especially where investigator-driven research is concerned. Therefore we seek to improve the regulations for the performance of clinical trials of blood disorders in Europe.

Personalized medicine is revolutionizing the way blood disorders are managed and researched. It is our mission to promote excellence in research, education, and clinical practice in hematology. To achieve this, it is important to promote personalized medicine. Therefore, we seek to improve the conditions that allow for the support of personalized medicine.

  Today, May 8, is International Thalassemia Day. Today, we seek to enhance the awareness and knowledge of thalassemia and other hemoglobin disorders.

The introduction of a European Hematology Association-Theme of the Year in June 2012, focusing on Quality of Life (QoL) in Hematology, was successful in stimulating awareness, conference sessions, publications, and reports.

The conclusion, in June 2013, of this year’s theme includes two editorials in Haematologica entitled “Patients’ needs in hematology: whose perspectives?” and “Age and Aging in blood disorders: EHA Theme of the Year 2013-2014’’. The Scientific Working Group Quality of Life and Symptoms will organize a SWG Session “Implementation of treatment related patient-reported outcomes in routine clinical practice in hematological malignancies”. Although each theme of the year is introduced to highlight a certain topic in hematology, the themes will remain active. Therefore, Quality of Life will stay on the agenda.

As we all know, healthcare budgets in Europe are under increasing pressure, affecting all medical disciplines. Sadly, hematology is no exception. Austerity measures are threatening patients’ access to medicine in Europe. On May 16, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) organizes the event ‘Can EU Citizens Afford their Medicines? The Economic Crisis and Access to Medicines in Europe’ in the European Parliament, Brussels. If you are interested, please register using the following link.

REGISTRATION

Every year on the 8th May, Thalassaemia International Federation commemorates the International Thalassaemia Day and organises activities for raising awareness about the genetic blood disorder of thalassaemia, on general topics…

Personalized medicine and hematology have strong links. As one of the few medical specialties to do so,hematology has developed successful personalized medicine strategies and has managed to actually increase cure rates. It looks as if the future of research into blood disorders will yield more and more subtypes of diseases that will necessitate more personalized diagnoses and treatments. EHA is a member of the European Alliance for Personalized Medicine (EAPM) to work together with other academics, healthcare professionals, payers, patients, and industry representatives to accelerate the development, delivery and uptake of personalized medicine and diagnostics. Last week, this alliance organized the Irish Presidency Conference on ‘Innovation and Patient Access to Personalised Medicine’ in Dublin.

From the conference, the following press statement is released:

There are many myths out there. Today, on World Cancer Day 2013, you can get the facts. One and a half million premature deaths per year, among them from hematological malignancies, could be prevented.

The emerging field of personalised medicine is offering innovative ways of tackling Europe's health issues. But Europe's healthcare system is not yet fully adapted to take advantage of the possibilities.How can patients get access to the benefits that are on the brink of becoming available through personalised medicine?

This is the theme of a conference organised by EAPM under the Irish Presidency of the EU, in Dublin on March 20-21.

We welcome the proposal for a Clinical Trials Regulation released by the European Commission. The Regulation appears to improve the legislation associated with running clinical trials. This will give clinicians and researchers a better framework for developing and testing treatments, to benefit patients across Europe, while maintaining the high standards of patient safety that currently exist in European clinical research. The harmonisation of clinical trials legislation and the streamlining of the application process for starting trials should particularly benefit the set up and running of multi-national trials in Europe.

H-Net, the 3-year European Network for Harmonization of Training in Hematology project led by Professor Eva Hellström-Lindberg, ended in September 2011, but its strongest components continue.