Patients in Europe are currently encountering heavy delays in accessing innovative medical treatments, mainly due to the slow regulatory processes. The delay in the European system of approximately 120 days in comparison with that of the United States and Japan is the main cause of this issue.
Besides the regulatory system, long lead times in market access mechanisms at the country level also make the European patients wait on average 20 months longer than their American counterparts to take benefits from the science breakthroughs. The noted-gap, in particular, is a critical one and a sign of urgency, which necessitates the adoption of regulatory reform throughout the continent.
Europe is confronting various healthcare issues, particularly because of the rapid aging of its population. By 2050, the population over 65 is projected to be one-third of the European Union, which will be a considerable source of pressure on the healthcare system, which already in chronic demand for medical technology upgrade.
As a result of the efforts made during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clearly shown that Europe has its potential to have a quicker and more efficient regulatory system. However, it has been observed that such activities have not been sustained since the pandemic period, making a further gap between Europe and other regions in terms of access to new treatments.
In the light of such, health experts have the ambition for Europe to have a forefront in global competitive regulation where the aim is to speed up patient access to medical innovations. The absence of major reforms would leave the continent at the back of providing solutions to its aging population in a timely manner.
The development is very worrying, and the rates of chronic sickness in Europe have recently been increasing. It is reported that the World Health Organization has issued a recent warning to the effect that Europe will have to cope with the growth of chronic disease rates which are affecting people throughout the whole period of life in the region.
According to the World Health Organization, the governments of European countries should deal with the issue of drug shortages, and Belgium puts the blame on the European Union to come up with one policy to solve the problem that is increasing.
To combat the problem, the European Union has come up with the idea of The Critical Medicines Act to increase the pharma industry through local production and reduce the reliance on countries such as India and China.