APO Alumni 2024
This year's meeting of the Academy of Patient Organisations - APO ALUMNI took place under the wings of the British Embassy in Prague. Almost 110 of us gathered in the historic premises of the Embassy with a beautiful view of the metropolis, vast majority being representatives of patient organisations. The British Ambassador Matt Field welcomed us by recalling that it had been more than ten years since we had last met at the British Embassy and was pleasantly surprised that our numbers had more than tripled since then. "Today is not just a celebration of patient organisations, but a celebration of what each of you is doing for patients in the Czech Republic," he said. He also mentioned that it is the Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Industries (AIFP), which also represents British companies, that is behind the APO project.
The Executive Director of AIFP, David Kolář pointed out that this year APO for the first time organized “for real” the Czech EUPATI training, which was successfully completed by 17 graduates, and also positively evaluated that this year patient organizations were significantly heard, whether it was a change in the definition of a patient organization as such, comments on the Reimbursement Decree or efforts to reduce center-based care. One of the topic that are still pending, however, is the regulation of advertising, where the long-term goal is to remove outdated and meaningless barriers that prevent patients from accessing information about treatment and its options. "The amendment to the law is now being discussed by the Government, and although it is not certain whether it will be approved by the end of the parliamentary term, some key changes have already been included in the draft. Even if it does not work this time, we will be able to return to these proposals after the election," said Director Kolář. However, he considers it positive that the Czech Ministry of Health has shown its willingness to support changes to European regulation of advertising, which he believes might bring systemic improvements. David Kolář considers another challenge for next year to be the financing of patient organisations, which is included in the amendment to the Public Health Insurance Act, but in its current form does not bring a systemic, predictable and transparent solution.
We would also like to thank Petr Fifka, MP for the Civic Democratic Party, Petr Davídek, Deputy Director of the Department of Medicines and Medical Devices at the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, as well as Tomáš Boráň, Director of the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL), who plans to involve patient organisations more in the activities of SÚKL. This will be another great step further contributing to better patient information and strengthening their voice across the healthcare system.
Photogallery:
Photo No. 1 – Vanda Kofroňová, Event Moderator, Czech Television
Photo No. 2 – Matt Field, His Excellency the British Ambassador to the Czech Republic
Photo No. 3 – David Kolář, Executive Director of the Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Industry
Photo No. 4 – Petr Fifka, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
Photo No. 5 – Petr Davídek, Deputy Director of the Department of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic
Photo No. 6 - Tomáš Boráň, Director of the State Institute for Drug Control
Photo No. 7 - Robert Hejzák, Chairman of the National Association of Patient Organizations
Photo No. 8 - Full hall of patient organization representatives
Photo No. 9 - APO 2024
Photo No. 10 - Zuzana Komaková, project manager of APO
Photo No. 11-15 - Networking
