Prime Highlights:
- Europe is focusing on human-centred, highly personalized healthcare solutions to become a global leader in health and life sciences.
- Projects like SmartChange and TRUSTroke are improving patient care and preventing chronic diseases in children and adults.
Key Facts:
- The European Commission’s action plan targets five areas: computing power, data access, talent development, simpler regulations, and support for new healthcare solutions.
- Europe’s strength lies in quality over scale, with established research networks and reliable data systems driving healthcare innovation.
Background:
Europe is aiming to become a global leader in health and life sciences by focusing on human-centred, highly personalized solutions. Europe may be smaller than the US or China in some areas, but its strong research networks and data systems give it an advantage in healthcare innovation.
Last month, the Commission adopted the AI in Science strategy to create unified guidelines for healthcare professionals and promote the adoption of AI in hospitals.
“To build trust, we need evidence that these solutions work, along with clear certification processes for AI-enabled medical devices,” said Anca Scortariu, deputy head of unit for AI in Health and Life Sciences at the European Commission.
Europe still faces challenges like slow rules, varying laws across countries, and a shortage of professionals connecting research with healthcare. The Commission plans to tackle these issues with incentives and better coordination.
New healthcare tools can make patient care more efficient by cutting down on administrative work and personalizing treatments. Professor Carl Moons from UMC Utrecht says about 40% of clinical work is administrative, and these tools could help reduce that.
Horizon Europe projects show Europe’s focus on healthcare innovation. SmartChange, for example, helps predict and lower the risk of chronic diseases in children and teens, using risk assessments for doctors and fun, educational tools for users.TRUSTroke helps track stroke patients to improve their long-term care.
Experts say Europe’s strength is in quality rather than size, using well-established research networks and reliable data systems. “We aim to create the most usable, trustworthy, and human-centred solutions, that is where our real opportunity lies,” said Martijn Vastenburg of ConnectedCare.
Keeping technological independence and access to strong, reliable data systems is essential for Europe to take advantage of future breakthroughs and maintain its leadership in healthcare.
