Towards a health competent consumer: EU policy action for improved health information The Patients’ Perspective Rodney Elgie President European Patients Forum Bad Gastein, 7 October 2004

Health is the single most important subject for all EU citizens All governments wrestle with the problem of squaring the circle of need versus cost Yet we experience huge amounts of waste in the delivery of healthcare Waste comes in the form of non, under, over or mis- diagnosis And in the inappropriate use of medicines – around 8 billion wasted in the EU Many problems stem from poor health literacy

Health information, education and knowledge are paramount Around 50% of all patients who are prescribed medicines do not use them as instructed by the GP No clear way of distinguishing between those who are compliant and those who are not Compliance means different things to different people and different people view compliance responsibility in different ways

Most people wish to know what the medicine is for and what the benefits are likely to be How do you judge whether the medicine has worked or not? And what criteria are used to make this judgment and by whom? Physician’s clinical expertise and past experience versus patient’s preferences, concerns and expectations Issues of side effects, addiction, dependency, harm immunity

What is driving healthcare demands and expectations: Common standards of living across the EU Medical technological developments and Pharmacological developments Healthcare supply never been more plentiful and advanced as today → problem is accelerating gap between economy and expectations

We are not merely facing temporary budget deficits: ever widening gap between what healthcare can do and public healthcare budgets 1985 patients with aneurysms over 70 regarded as terminal cases Number of heart operations only 10 % of today’s figure but Europeans do not have more heart problems As demand and cost grow current wastage levels must be drastically reduced; value of predict and prevent over diagnose and treat

Developing a health competent consumer is a shared responsibility Prevention tools include knowledge about health determinants, risk factors and risk behaviours Health education involves health literacy and life skills; health promotion involved physician/patient partnership, advocacy and self-empowerment Awareness raising to facilitate early intervention measures

Health must be viewed as an investment, not a cost, by both citizens and governments If you think good health is expensive try ill health The more information available about conditions in an easily read format, the more reactive patients and potential patients will be Legitimate right to obtain information from all sources that is accurate, up to date, and non- promotional

Governments should not fear the educated and informed patient – evidence they reduce healthcare costs Must transform healthcare from a cost problem into the largest European service industry