MedTech Europe’s Diabetes Group contribution to the ‘Healthier Together – EU Non-Communicable Diseases Initiative’

The MedTech Europe Diabetes Group welcomes the EU NCD Initiative to help Member States address the growing challenge of diabetes and other NCDs in Europe.

Diabetes is a ‘silent pandemic’ and one of the major health challenges of our generation. Sixty million people are living with diabetes in Europe – equivalent to the population of Italy – and the number is set to rise to 66 million people by 2030, with profound human and economic costs.

Diabetes is a life-long and chronic condition that if not effectively controlled leads to serious health consequences, including cardiovascular events, blindness, amputations, and kidney failure. For those living with diabetes, self-management is a 24/7 task with hundreds of decisions per day. Caring for diabetes and its comorbidities also places enormous demands on families and carers, as well as healthcare professionals, health systems and the wider economy and social structures.

Digitally enabled diabetes care plays a key role in supporting people with diabetes and their care teams in managing the condition, resulting in better health outcomes, higher quality of life, and less strain on health systems and society. Yet barriers remain across Europe for greater implementation of these digital solutions.

To address these challenges and work toward a more integrated, value-based and patient-centric form of diabetes care, the MedTech Europe Diabetes Group encourages the “Healthier Together” Initiative to take into account the following recommendations while developing an action plan for diabetes:

• Engage people with diabetes at the forefront of policy development, as their unique perspectives and needs are crucial for developing effective solutions.
• Improve outcomes and quality of life for the millions of Europeans already living with diabetes, in addition to a focus on primary prevention and promotion.
• Foster knowledge sharing and provide an inclusive fora where current situations, key challenges and transfer of best practices can be brought forward by Member State stakeholders.
• Include concrete policy recommendations that advance digitally enabled diabetes care in order to achieve better outcomes for people with diabetes, their care teams and health systems.