Brussels, 19/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - Policy makers and experts from across the EU met up in Brussels on 19 February 2015 to discuss progress made since the launch of the Joint Action on Chronic Diseases and Promoting Healthy Ageing Across the Life Cycle (JA-CHRODIS) a year ago. The Joint Action provides EU member states with a unique opportunity to learn from each other and strengthen their capacities to prevent, manage and treat chronic disease.
The first General Assembly of the JA-CHRODIS consortium brought together representatives from 63 national and regional departments of health, as well as research institutes and EC representatives. Nicoline Tamsma, president of EuroHealthNet, a charity that defends the interests of organisations involved in public health care and disease prevention spoke at the opening session of the General Assembly and stated: “The outcomes of the Joint Action can contribute to supporting integrated, whole-of-health-systems approaches to reducing the burden of chronic diseases and to strengthening our governments' collective commitment to address chronic diseases in a coherent and consistent way.” The European Commission and member states are collectively investing almost €10 million in JA-CHRODIS, which aims to identify and share the best approaches to reduce the burden of chronic disease and identify comprehensive and effective care paths, such as those for people with diabetes, for example. (Isabelle Lamberty)