EuGMS lobby Members of the European Parliament on topics related to Geriatric Medicine
The EUGMS Executive Board, Secretariat and PCO lead by our President Timo Strandberg, President Elect Stefania Maggi and Academic Director Athanase Benetos met with Sirpa Pietikäinen (MEP Finland; Alzheimer's Alliance and Carers interest group in the European Parliament; member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs), Alojz Peterle (MEP Slovenia; Vice-President of the European Parliament Intergroup on Active Ageing; member of the Conference of Delegation Chairs and committee on Foreign Affairs) and Lambert Van Nistelrooij (MEP Netherlands; Member of the Intergroup on Ageing and Committee on Regional Development)
MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen welcomed guests to the European Parliament and handled shortly actual issues in older people's care, eg. the possibilities of new technology and eHealth, and prospects of cooperation with the EUGMS.
The first part of the meeting allowed for a description of our Society's goals and priorities at European level:
Goals of EUGMS
• To support the development of geriatric medicine in the member states of the European Union
• To promote education on geriatric principles
• Multi-professional, holistic assessment and targeted interventions, prioritizing quality of life
• To disseminate the geriatric approach across other medical specialties and health-professionals, in the care of older persons
• To promote evidence-based guidelines for the most efficacious preventive strategies for healthy ageing
Priorities of EUGMS at European Policy Level
• To increase awareness for the necessity to develop geriatric medicine as a "full specialty" among European stakeholders and policy-makers
• To represent the voice of the National Societies for Geriatrics and Gerontology in Europe
• To establish contacts, synergies and collaboration with other European umbrella organisations and societies in related fields
• To support European policy by providing expertise in counselling, guidelines, relevant data, research results on ageing, health and care in older people
Sven Matzke (Unit for Social Protection and Activations systems) and Ines Garcia Sanchez (Unit for Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing) laid out the opportunities and challenges posed by the ambitious European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) aiming to increase the average healthy lifespan of Europeans by 2 years by 2020 (http://ec.europa.eu/health/ageing/innovation/index_en.htm).
A lively discussion with each of the MEPs and representatives from Alzheimer's Europe (Annette Dumas & Dianne Gove), Age Europe (Julia Wadoux) and Eurocarers (Frank Goodwin) raised areas where cooperation and synergies could be found.
In summary, this was a very productive initial gathering and a stepping stone in our determination to develop Geriatric Medicine in all member states of the European Union and support that these Services become available to all citizens of the European Union. Following Sirpa Pietikäinen’ s proposal, EUGMS will endeavour to attend yearly working gatherings aimed at improving collaboration and streamlining efforts.
