Projects

“Healthy Future, Polish Deal, National Recovery Plan – key initiatives to strengthen the healthcare system in Poland” – under this slogan, the fourth edition of the conference series The best way to predict the future is to create it was held on July 27, 2021. The event was organized by the Institute for the Development of Social Affairs and the Kulscy Foundation. The institutional partner of the conference was the Medical Research Agency. The event was held under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Health, the Ministry of Development, Labor and Technology, and the National Institute of Public Health PZH – National Research Institute. The conference took place in a multimedia studio at the SOFITEL Warsaw Victoria hotel in a hybrid format.

Among the speakers and panelists were representatives of the government (including from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance), top public administration bodies, clinical scientists, system experts, and representatives of the pharmaceutical sector.

“When we inaugurated our conference series in Washington in 2019, no one expected that within two years our lives would be turned upside down so radically and so suddenly. For many of us, today’s conference is also one of the first opportunities to meet ‘in person’ in a broader group of friends and business partners, as well as one of the still few opportunities for direct discussion,” said Małgorzata Bogusz, President of the Kulscy Foundation, head of the Institute for the Development of Social Affairs and a member of the European Economic and Social Committee for the 2020-2025 term, during the opening of the conference.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to participate in this important conference. I am pleased to open it and to meet you in this hybrid format. To see familiar faces, and above all to discuss important topics. I think the slogan opening today’s conference, which refers to the ‘Polish Deal’, the NRRP funds, and above all to the key issues for the healthcare sector, is really an initiative of all of us. I believe that the fact that health is among the priorities of the European Union and the NRRP is really a reason to discuss how we should spend this money,” said Dr. Radosław Sierpiński, President of the Medical Research Agency, in his speech.

“The ongoing pandemic has highlighted the need to effectively address the non-epidemic needs of our patients, which are accumulating in the form of the so-called health debt. I deeply hope that the currently implemented government programs, such as the Polish Deal, the National Recovery Plan, and various public policy solutions from the Ministry of Health, will allow us to effectively address the priority needs of the healthcare sector,” said Minister of Health Dr. Adam Niedzielski in a letter read by the President of the Medical Research Agency Dr. Radosław Sierpiński.

The attendees discussed the importance of the Polish Deal for the health of Poles, possible development scenarios for the healthcare system under the National Recovery Plan, as well as lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic and ways to prepare for future such challenges.

“An oncology patient means different emotions. It’s about life and another chance that a new pharmacological technology brings, sometimes very expensive. I don’t want to get into those nuances because it’s not for me to decide who gets that extended chance and who is told: ‘Unfortunately, we’ve hit a wall, there’s nothing more we can do.’ A cardiology patient is theoretically in a better situation because his therapies are much cheaper today, but at the same time the scale of these therapies means huge amounts from the state budget, and I understand the dilemma faced by those in power,” said Professor Robert Gil, Head of the Invasive Cardiology Clinic at CSK MSWiA during the conference.

Much attention was also devoted by the participants to fighting lifestyle diseases and paying off the health debt generated by COVID-19, as well as to the reimbursement process and modern medicines.

“The reimbursement act is generally a good law. Compared to our predecessors, it’s the best law they adopted. There were a number of possibilities for drug prices in Poland to be as favorable as possible from the payer’s point of view. Of course, there are many different problems, because it is also a matter of some courage in allowing new therapies, which are extremely costly. Here I want to commend the Ministry of Health, that in recent years these decisions have indeed been made boldly, which is emphasized by many patient groups – they are the most objective here,” argued Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Committee Dr. Tomasz Latos.

“But it is also true that with the development of new drugs and the associated costs, healthcare funding – no matter how big – will never keep up with the costs of these new, various therapies, and at the same time, one must approach everything sensibly and verify the effectiveness of these therapies. This was also mentioned during the conference by Professor Łukasz Szumowski,” added Dr. Tomasz Latos.

Decision-makers and experts also discussed the health security of Poles and the strategy for developing the healthcare system.

We warmly invite you to view the photo report from the event.