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Health and Welfare
 Search for: in: Amigo Society: Consumers and Health Information: Is Knowledge Really Power?'
Date: 21 March 2006
Location: Brussels, Belgium Speakers: Peter Pitts, fmr FDA, James Copping, European Commission, Colin Webb, EPF A recent consumer survey in Europe asked people in eight old and new EU member countries what reforms would most likely increase their quality of care. In every nation, by a large margin, "giving patients more information about their illness" was the preferred solution.
Health care education is the consumer's Rosetta Stone. Public policy institutes, pharmaceutical companies, health care professionals and patient advocates, along with government must be allied in the drive to deliver information to patients, for it is, ultimately, about saving lives and saving our health care systems. Moreover, increasing information to patients will improve disease awareness and aid in defeating patient non-compliance estimated to cost billions of euros a year in increased emergency room visits, unnecessary surgeries, expensive hospital stays, and lost productivity.  Defusing the Pensions Time Bomb
Date: 24 February 2006
Location: Jolly Hotel du Grand Sablon, Rue Bodenbroek 2, Brussels Speakers: Matthew Bishop, Liam Halligan, Dan Clifton, Giuseppe Pannisi, Wilfried Prewo, Christofer Fjellner MEP, Ian Vasquez, Kamil Kajetanowicz, Edward Palmer European citizens are faced with the prospect of a dismal retirement. Pension systems in Europe are grappling with mounting deficits and a demographic ‘time bomb’. Current pay-as-you-go social insurance schemes are proving to be too expensive and unsustainable. In short, Europeans face a stark choice: reform today, or ruin tomorrow.
Yet, which kind of reform is needed is hotly debated. Should pay-as-you-go systems be tweaked only slightly? Is there a role for the market in providing pensions? If so, how extensive should that role be? What are the benefits to the citizen? To the government? What can be learned from countries that have already reformed? Is the Chilean model suitable for the ailing systems in Europe? Or is the Swedish approach to reform more appropriate? Amigo Society: Biotechnology and Tailor Made Medicines
Date: 22 February 2006
Location: Brussels, Belgium Speakers: Dr. Anders Sandberg and Mr. Robby Berloznik The life sciences have ushered in a veritable revolution in healthcare. More than ever before, genetics, computers and pharmacology intertwine to speed up the pace of scientific discovery. The mapping of the human genome offers new insights into how our organism functions, and how to cure previously fatal diseases. By taking into account our genetic patterns, medicine will be able to adapt to every individual’s needs. This raises important social and political issues: drug testing, the sale of genetic information, medical insurance, enhancement of physical abilities as opposed to prevention and cure. Should these developments be controlled, and by whom?
Westminster Fringe Debate: Public Services
Date: 09 February 2006
Location: One Great George Street, Westminster, London Speakers: Chair: Edward Carr. Speakers: Tim Gosling, Matthew Hancock, Margie Jaffe, Henry Pitman The motion: If Britain wants decent and efficient public services, it should hand them over to the private sector.
The government spends more than £2 billion a week on public services. But still we complain about the state of our schools and hospitals; and still our cities are blighted by poverty. Isn't running public services simply too important to leave to timeserving bureaucrats? Surely the best way to ensure that public services are decent and good value is to turn to the best managers we can find. Company executives understand how organisations work and what people want, whether they are hospital patients or aircraft passengers. Or would the profit motive end up poisoning the commitment and dedication of our teachers and doctors? Wouldn't a system geared towards making money inevitably line executives' pockets at the expense of ordinary people? As one of Britain's great achievements, doesn't the Welfare State need defending rather than dismantling? European Dawn launch
Date: 23 November 2005
Location: Brussels, Belgium Speakers: Johnny Munkhammar An intense debate is raging in Western Europe. Growth is slowing, employment is falling, the number of people living off the state is increasing, and welfare services are deteriorating. Why? Who is responsible? What should be done?
The problems have been obvious for a long time and new ones are now being added: an ageing population, ever-more-expensive services, international competition, an international labour market and a heterogeneous society. Some reforms are taking place. Taxes are being lowered, public commitments limited, private initiatives admitted, and deregulation measures introduced. But the reforms in Western Europe are far too modest, and the politicians in charge are keeping quiet about the aims – in fact, they often argue the opposite. This is dangerous because citizens are being kept in the dark about the purpose of the changes. The Great Paradigm Shift: Health Care as a Driver of Growth
Date: 22 November 2005
Location: Brussels, Belgium Speakers: Dr. Arne Björnberg and Sonia Teughels "What is driving health care demand? What to do with an ageing society? How can we ensure a "fair" distribution of dwindling health budgets? How do we administer shortages?" These issues erroneously dominate the current debate and present health care as a "cost" to society and a problem for decision-makers. Rather than focussing on budget cuts or rationing, a report presented at this event demonstrated why the cost control paradigm is a fallacy and revealed why health care has the potential of becoming the largest service industry in our societies.
A Future for Retirement? Lessons and Perspectives on US Social Security Reform
Date: 25 October 2005
Location: Brussels, Belgium Speakers: Dr. Michael Tanner, CATO and Dr. Johan van Overtveld, Belgian Association of Christian Employers, Frans Crols, Trends Magazine (chair) The Bush administration promised to introduce the “ownership society”. A centrepiece of this policy is individual empowerment for retirement, by means of personal accounts for every citizen. This would bring both responsibility for savings, greater wealth and reduction of government debt.
Rendering Social Security to its beneficiaries will also contain the ultimate choice: those who prefer greater risk and returns in the form of investment on capital markets are free to opt out; whereas risk-averse citizens may choose to remain in the current system, albeit with lower benefits. But with expanding federal expenditure, some fear that retirement reform may stall. Launch of ANTIDOTE-PACT
Date: 12 October 2005
Location: House of Lords, Westminster, London Speakers: Terry O'Dwyer, Graham Satchwell Launched by Terry o’Dwyer at the House of Lords, the Antidote-PACT (Partnership Against Counterfeit Trade) initiative is an experimental programme designed to bridge the gap between thinking and acting on the problem of medical counterfeiting.
Is Belgium Working?: Labour Market Reform
Date: 20 September 2005
Location: Brussels, Belgium Speakers: Marc De Vos, PhD., Jan Denys, Randstad, Alain Mouton, Trends (chair) What are the causes behind the sclerosis in the Belgian labour market? Are the workings of the labour market in Belgium so dysfunctional that we have passed the point of no return? It is clear that labour market reform is essential if the Belgian economy is to thrive – but what policies should be adopted? Should Belgians take an Anglo-Saxon approach to labour market regulation – or should it follow the example of its continental neighbours?
Biotechnology: A Healthy Revolution?
Date: 24 May 2005
Location: Brussels, Belgium Speakers: Jan Remans, M.D. PhD In the coming years, biotechnology will enable us to identify, understand, manipulate, improve and control living organisms (including ourselves). Better disease control, custom drugs, gene therapy, age mitigation and reversal, memory drugs, prosthetics, bionic implants, animal transplants and many other advances may continue to increase the human life span and improve quality of life. It is quite possible that these new technologies will radically transform public health and healthcare for those who cannot now afford such care, while also enabling unprecedented levels of care for those who can. But what will be the impact of this impending technological revolution on the provision of healthcare? Will the current model of health care insurance be able to cope?
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