{"id":1961,"date":"2026-04-22T11:13:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=1961"},"modified":"2026-04-22T11:13:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T08:13:00","slug":"adonis-georgiades-in-the-economist-the-patient-is-at-the-centre-of-cancer-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=1961","title":{"rendered":"Adonis Georgiades in The Economist: the patient is at the centre of cancer policies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Treating cancer <\/b>is one of the most important priorities of public health <\/b>both at European and national level.<\/p>\n

The EU<\/b> has developed a comprehensive policy framework, with the “European Plan to Combat Cancer<\/b>” as its central pillar. This plan aims at a comprehensive treatment of the disease<\/b>, covering all stages: prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and improvement of the quality of life of patients and survivors, while placing particular emphasis on reducing inequalities between Member States.<\/p>\n

Greece, as a EU member state,<\/b> is integrating European guidelines into its national policies, actively participating in joint actions and programmes, speakers at the sixth annual Summit<\/b>on cancer in Greece, entitled “Fighting cancer in turbulent times”, organised by The Economist.<\/p>\n

During his speech at the conference, Health Minister Adonis Georgiades,<\/b> said that a new system is currently under public consultation that will allow for faster entry of innovative<\/b>pharmaceuticals <\/b>in Greece.<\/p>\n

He stressed the importance of the state’s cooperation with all stakeholders in order to achieve a balance between innovation <\/b>and budgetary constraints. He stressed that the government’s policy is aimed at supporting patients, and national plans are already in place to address cancer.<\/p>\n

As regards the challenges of the last 15 years<\/b>, he noted that trust has been built with both the medical community and patients, and pointed out that although much remains to be done, the country is on the right track.<\/p>\n

The minister also touched on pharmaceutical policy<\/b>, noting that the US market, as the world’s largest, inevitably influences developments at the international level. As he pointed out, when something important happens in the United States<\/b>, it is impossible not to have an impact on other markets, with a key issue being the supply of medicines to countries.<\/p>\n

Special emphasis was placed on the concept of price alignment<\/b>, which, if implemented, could bring about radical changes in the global pharmaceutical landscape. However, he stressed that this transition would not be easy and would be accompanied by challenges.<\/p>\n

In response to these developments, he highlighted the importance of greater integration, expressing confidence that the European Union can play a key role. He noted that, as a whole, the European Union<\/b> is on a par with the United States in terms of power and assessed that international changes will necessarily lead to greater policy alignment within the EU.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Saloustros<\/b> – Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Thessaly \/ Chairman of the Board, Hellenic Society of Pathological Oncology, highlighted the main priorities for the progress of the system:<\/p>\n

– Training of physicians and strengthening of human resources<\/p>\n

– Equal access of patients to health services and improvement of the predictability of the system<\/p>\n

– Ensuring sustainability through appropriate policies<\/p>\n

– Focus on prevention and data collection for policy making<\/p>\n

– Strengthening clinical research<\/p>\n

– Promoting sustainability and “green oncology”<\/p>\n

– Need to strengthen palliative care<\/p>\n

He stressed that Greece<\/b>has the necessary scientific potential to achieve these goals and that the cooperation of all stakeholders is crucial.<\/p>\n

For his part, Giorgos Kapetanakis<\/b> – president of the Greek Cancer Federation<\/b>, pointed out that while oncology is in a period of significant developments, patients do not always directly experience the benefits of these changes.<\/p>\n

He referred to critical issues such as:<\/b><\/p>\n

– Creation and utilization of patient registries<\/p>\n

– Digital transformation of oncology care<\/p>\n

– Home delivery of high-cost drugs<\/p>\n

– Biomarker reimbursement<\/p>\n

He raised the key question of whether the health system<\/b>can support these changes, emphasizing that the reforms need to reach patients in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n

He also stressed that a more holistic approach to oncology care<\/b> is taking shape, with a focus on quality of life. Patient associations say they are ready to contribute to the formulation of the national cancer action plan.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kapetanakis concluded that three key issues:<\/b><\/p>\n

– Access to innovation<\/p>\n

– Integration of patient experience<\/p>\n

– Strengthening collaboration as a key prerequisite for progress<\/p>\n

Finally, Cyril Skiver<\/b> – Regional President, Mid-European Federation, MSD, stressed that dialogue and collaboration between stakeholders is a sign of progress towards a more patient-centred health system.<\/p>\n

He stressed the importance of clinical research, noting that there are currently around 80 studies being conducted in Greece<\/b>, the result of collaboration between all stakeholders.<\/p>\n

He noted that the next step is to strengthen patient registries<\/b> to evaluate what works and what doesn’t, and to better align interventions. He concluded that the focus should be on patients and that Greece has already made significant progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Treating cancer is now one of the most important public health priorities at both European and national level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}