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12-13 September 2016 Sofia, Bulgaria

PACT REGIONAL CONFERENCECOOPERATION WITHIN THE REGION: A WAY TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTHCARE IN CEE

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Table of ContentsWelcome 3

The Patient Access Partnership (PACT) 5

PACT Regional Conference 6

Programme 8

Speakers 13

Events 28

Venue 28

Transportation and Directions 28

Map 30

Sponsors 32

Welcome to PACT Regional Conference in Sofia!

Dear colleagues,

On behalf of the partners of the Patient Access Partnership, we would like to welcome you to the PACT Regional Conference “Cooperation within the Region: A Way to Improve Access to Quality Healthcare in CEE” in So�ia, Bulgaria.

In the recent years, there has been signi�icant progress in establishing access to healthcare at the centre of the economic sustainability in the European Union. Access, it is argued, is the key to sustainable health systems as it has the potential to reduce inequalities. However, more efforts are needed to address the multi-dimensional barriers to access – at the individual, provider and health system level.

Against this background, the Conference offers a timely opportunity for the region-al healthcare community to re-af�irm its commitment to address the gaps in access to healthcare by discussing potential measures and innovative instruments for fur-ther actions. It is an opportunity to exchange insights, highlight achievements and identify major dif�iculties.

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The Patient Access Partnership (PACT)

The Patient Access Partnership is a joint initiative led by the Bulgarian National Patients’ Organization and the European Patients’ Forum, and involves multiple stakeholders, in-cluding patients, European policymakers, healthcare professionals, academia, and the pharmaceutical industry. The vision of PACT is to enable different stakeholders to join forces to develop sustainable solutions and approaches to improve access to quality healthcare across Europe. “Access” has been de�ined by the group as encompassing the �ive As (5As): availability, adequacy, accessibility, affordability, and appropriate-ness.

By creating a structured partnership approach with a broad range of national and Euro-pean actors, PACT works to identify key hurdles in access to healthcare for patients in a holistic way. While the approach is to look at healthcare systems as a whole, the activities of PACT are guided by a patient-focus, from the assessment of gaps in access to quality healthcare among Member States, to the collaboration with relevant EU-led or national initiatives on the development of practical solutions.

The main issues to be addressed include: key public health challenges from a pol-icy perspective, data on access to healthcare, examples of successful models for cooperation, key EU mechanisms to support national efforts to improve access, roundtable discussions on possible cooperation opportunities as well as policy discussion on the way forward in healthcare policies in the CEE countries. One of the strengths of the Conference is the joint participation from civil society, policy-makers, health professionals and European public health institutions.

We are delighted to see the enthusiasm across the region for the PACT Regional Conference as more than 24 countries will take part, re�lecting the extent of the challenge to ensure equity of access to quality healthcare and innovation across the European Union.

Collaboration between partners across disciplines within a regional context is urgently needed! We are con�ident that the collective outcomes of the conference will inform political decision-making and make a real and lasting impact on ac-cess to quality healthcare in Central and Eastern Europe.

Sincerely,

Anders Olauson, Stanimir Hasardzhiev,Chairperson, Secretary-General,Patient Access Partnership Patient Access Partnership

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PACT Regional Conference

The Conference “Cooperation within the Region: A Way to Improve Access to Quality Healthcare in CEE” is a conference of the Patient Access Partnership (PACT), organised by the National Patients’ Organisation – Bul-garia under the auspices of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Bulgaria. The two-day event, held on 12-13 September in So�ia, will welcome PACT af�iliates in the following catego-ries: umbrella patient organisations; associations of doctors, nurses and pharmacists; industry associations; public health advocacy NGOs and academia from the countries in the CEE region (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and the three Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, including Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey).

The main objectives of the Conference are to: • Discuss the barriers to ensuring equal access to quality healthcare in CEE countries;• Encourage informative discussion on the existing sustainable mechanisms for improving healthcare systems;• Increase cooperation between policy-makers and stakeholders within and between the countries from the region;• Raise awareness on the added value of existing best-practice examples of cooperation between stakeholders for improving access to healthcare and encouraging cooperation in neighbouring countries;• Provide recommendations on follow-up actions to ensure better access to quality health services in the region.

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ProgrammeM�����, 12��: R��� “S���� G����”

08:00 – 09:00 Registration

09:00 – 10:30 I. Setting the scene: health at the heart of sustainable development.

The session will delineate major public health challenges from a policy perspective that the EU faces in the last decade and efforts to address these issues.

Questions: What are the major public health challenges that the EU faces in the last decade? What are the key trends for improving health care management at the EU level? What are the opportunities for action in line with the recommendations of the Riga Roadmap?

Speakers: Dr. Petre Moskov, Minister of Health of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Stanimir Hasardzhiev, MD, Secretary-General, Patient Access Partnership Mr. Andrey Kovatchev MEP, Group of the European People’s Party Mr. Šarûnas Narbutas, President of “Lithuanian Cancer Patient Coalition” (POLA) and Adviser to the

President of the Republic of Lithuania Ms. Alyna C. Smith, Advocacy Officer – Health, Legal Strategies and Women, Platform for International

Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)

Q&A

10:30 – 11:30 II. The state of play: measuring progress on EU actions to improve access.

The session will provide data on access to healthcare in the CEE countries.

Questions: What is the situation on the ground in the CEE countries? How far are we in terms of implementa-tion of policies which aim to improve access? What are the key challenges in access that need to be addressed?

Speakers: Mr. Jan De Maeseneer M.D., PhD., (Hon) FRCGP., Vice-dean for strategic planning at the Faculty of

Medicine and Health Sciences at Ghent University (Belgium) / Chairperson of the (former) Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in Health (EXPH)

Mr. Yannis Natsis, Policy Coordinator Universal Access and Affordable Medicines, Policy Coordinator Universal Access and Affordable Medicines, European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)

Q&A

11:30 – 12:00 Coffee break

12:30 – 13:30 III. How to improve access though cooperation? Best-practice examples.

The session will provide an opportunity for presentation of good and bad practice examples of cooperation from the region.

Questions: What examples of successful/unsuccessful models for cooperation exist? Can multi-stakeholder plat-forms help to improve health systems performance? What potential challenges may hinder these efforts? What was the critical success factor?

Presentations: “New voluntary collaborations on pharmaceutical policy: Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg-Austria take

the initiative”, Marc Van de Casteele, MD PhD, Coordinator of pharmaceutical assessment, Belgian In-stitute for Health Insurance and Invalidity

“Access to essential medicines for greater health outcome”, Prof. Zoltán Kaló, Professor of Health Eco-nomics, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) / Syreon Research Institute

“How can Pragmatic Value Assessment (PrVA) benefit countries of the Central European region?”, Dr. Dávid Dankó, PhD, Managing Director, Ideas & Solutions

“Improving access to health services for Roma and other vulnerable groups: the development of EU Roma Health Mediation Network”, Ms. Mariya Samuilova, Project officer, Migration Health Division, International Organization for Migration

“Optimal treatment for all: European challenges and the way forward”, Mr. Denis Horgan, Executive Director, European Alliance for Personalised Medicine

Q&A

Posters: “A conceptual framework of mapping access to health care across EU countries: the patient access initia-

tive”, Ms. Irene Agapidaki “Access to healthcare for migrants in the Czech Republic”, Ms. Elena Tulupova “Hindering access to treatment by ill-devised cost-containment measures – the Romanian experience”,

Dr. Laurentiu Mihai “Health Inequalities in Europe”, Mr. Lucian-Andrei Despa “The relationship between occupational stress and the need for psychological primary help for medical

personnel in Romania. Implications for the quality of life.”, Ms. Violeta Rotarescu “Supportive counselling for the cancer patients and kin at the pharmacy”, Ms. Seda Kansu

13:30 – 14:30 Lunch

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14:30 – 15:30 IV. Improving access: existing and potential EU mechanisms

The session will provide information on the EU Semester, the EU Structural Funds and the Investment Plan for Europe as mechanisms to support national efforts to improve access.

Questions: What is the relevance, applicability and added value of the European Semester as an assessment mechanism for health systems performance? What funding opportunities do EU Structural and Investment Funds and the Investment Plan for Europe provide to improve health systems in the EU? What other possibilities exist?

Presentation: Artur Carvalho, DG SANTE, European Commission, DG Health and Food Safety, Unit B1- Performance of

national health Country examples Q&A

15:30 – 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 –17:30 V. Improving access in practice.

Workshop: Roundtable discussions on possible actions to improve access through cooperation.

The representatives from each category gather by country (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, including Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey).

Task: Please identify 3 key recommendations per question: Better using the EU Semester as a mechanism to support the health reforms at the national level Improving the usage of the EU Structural Funds to better meet the needs of the Member State Improving the cooperation between stakeholders at the national and international levels

17:30 – 18:00 VI. Rapporteurs’ workshop

Moderator: Mr. Stanimir Hasardzhiev

20:00 Dinner

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09:00 – 10:30 I. Improving access in practice.

Feedback on roundtable discussions

10:30 – 10:45 Coffee Break

10:45 – 12:00 II. The way forward: cooperation within the region: a way to improve access to quality healthcare CEE.

How to meet the regional challenges?

Presentation “European Pillar on Social Rights”, Mr. Artur Carvalho, European Commission, DG Health and Food

Safety, Unit B1- Performance of national health systems

Plenary Session

Mr. Anders Olauson, Chairperson of PACT (moderator) Mr. Artur Carvalho, European Commission, DG Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) Ms. Annabel Seebohm, LL.M., Secretary General, Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) Mr. Richard Bergström, Director General, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associ-

ations (EFPIA) Mr. Adrian van den Hoven, Director General, Medicines for Europe (ME) Mr. Dominik Tomek, PharmD, MPH, PhD, Board of Directors (2014-2016), International Society for

Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR)

Q&A

12:00 – 12:15 Conclusions

12:15 Lunch / Departure

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Speakers

Mr. Andrey Kovatchev MEP,

Group of the European People’s Party

Dr. Andrey Kovatchev is a Member of the Presidency of the European Par-liament (Quaestor) as well as the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Delegation for Relations with the US.

Mr. Stanimir Hasardzhiev, MD,

Secretary-General, Patient Access Partnership

Dr. Stanimir Hasardzhiev is a Secretary-General of the Patient Access Partnership (PACT). He is also among the founders and current Chairperson of the Bulgarian National Patients’ Organization (NPO) – the largest patients’ umbrella organiza-tion in Bulgaria.

Dr. Hasardzhiev has devoted himself to the work in the patients’ advocacy sector and in defense of patients’ rights. In 2011 and 2015, he represented the Bulgarian patients in the Supervisory Board of the National Health Insurance Fund.

As of May 2013, Dr. Hasardzhiev is a board member of the European Patients’ Fo-rum as well as a member of several regional and international organizations and networks, e.g. World Hepatitis Alliance, European Community Advisory Board, International Capacity Building Alliance and others.

Dr. Hasardzhiev serves as a Secretary of the initiative “Health Partnership” which was officially launched in March 2015 as a permanent consultative body to the Council of Ministers in Bulgaria.

Dr. Petre Moskov,

Minister of Health of the Republic of Bulgaria

Petre Moskov was born on December 17, 1970 in Sofia.

He graduated from Sofia Medical University with a specialty in Anesthesiology and Inten-sive Care. He has completed residency train-ings in France, UK, Spain and USA.

Since 1994 he has been senior assistant at the Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, St. Sofia University Multiprofile Hospital for Active Treatment, in Sofia. In 2013 he was elected Deputy Chairman of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria political party.

He was elected Minister of Health of November 7, 2014 by the 43rd National Assembly.

He is a substitute member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Delegation to the EU-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee. Since 2011 he is the Vice-President of the Union of Eu-ropean Federalists and is also president of the Bulgarian section of the organization.

In the current term Dr. Kovatchev initiated an informal Interest Group on Access to Healthcare in the European Parliament that provides a forum for action and debate on equal access to healthcare and ensures that the issue features on the EU policy agenda. He earned a degree from the University of Saarland Germany and a holds a PhD in Natural Sciences.

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Mr. Šarûnas Narbutas,

President of “Lithuanian Cancer Patient Coalition” (POLA) and Adviser to the President of the Republic of Lithuania

Šarûnas Narbutas is a professional lawyer and an Adviser to the President of the Republic of Lithuania on legal affairs, who was diagnosed with chronic myeloge-nous leukemia (CML) at the age of 18. After hearing the diagnosis he has started a national petition campaigning for successful treatment for CML patients, which was signed by 6% of the total Lithuanian population (180,000 signatures) and has led to doubled reimbursement for modern treatment. In 2010-2013 he served as a Board member of “European Cancer Patient Coalition” (ECPC).

In the past 5 years, he has participated as a patient advocate speaker / moderator in over 50 high-level con-ferences throughout Europe and on an international scale and has led a debate on cancer-related issues at the national level and in front of European authorities. Since 2013 he is acting as a President of “Lithuanian Cancer Patient Coalition” (POLA). Before joining the President’s team Šarûnas Narbutas has also served as a member of an advisory board to the Minister of Health of the Republic of Lithuania, as a member of a Lithuanian reimbursement committee and also as a deputy chair of the commission awarding damages to patients caused by a medical mal-prac-tice, while also representing interest of cancer patients in dozens of governmental working groups. He is also a PhD candidate in Vilnius University Faculty of Law and reads lectures on Health Law, European Union Law and Public International Law.

Ms. Alyna C. Smith

Advocacy Officer – Health, Legal Strategies and Women, Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)

Ms Smith is Advocacy Officer at PICUM, where she leads their work on access to health care and access to justice. Established in 2001, PICUM is a network of more than 150 organisations across 38 countries working to advance the rights of undocumented mi-grants. Before joining PICUM, Alyna was a litigation associate at a global law firm in New York where she developed an extensive pro bono practice in the areas of criminal justice, immigration law and human rights. Her prior work experience includes a clerkship with Canada’s Federal Court, and work on ethics, genetics and access to medicines for the World Health Organization.

Alyna holds a bachelor’s degree in human biology and ethics, a master’s degree in philosophy, and a degree in law from the University of Toronto.

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Mr. Jan De Maeseneer M.D., PhD., (Hon) FRCGP.,

Vice-dean for strategic planning at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Ghent University (Belgium) / Chairperson of the (former) Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in Health (EXPH)

Jan De Maeseneer (°1952, Gent) graduated as a Medi-cal Doctor in 1977 at Ghent University (Belgium). Since 1978, he has been working part-time as a family phy-sician in the community health centre Botermarkt in Ledeberg, a deprived area in the city of Ghent. From 1978 to 1981, he worked as a part-time re-search-assistant in health promotion at the Depart-ment of Public Health (Prof. Dr. K. Vuylsteek).

Mr. Yannis Natsis

Policy Coordinator Universal Access and Affordable Medicines, European Public Health Alliance

Yannis joined the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) in January 2016 as the Policy Coordinator on Universal Access and Affordable Medicines.

He follows closely the regulatory developments in the field of medicines, issues of medical innovation and access of patients to their treatments. He is committed to promoting transparency and public scrutiny of EU decision-making and believes strongly in a public-interest pharmaceutical model.

He has worked at the European Parliament, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UN and the private sector in Brussels and Athens. Between 2013-2015, Yannis served as the Advocacy Advisor on access to medi-cines and access to knowledge for the TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD). Yannis is a Greek national, fluent in Greek, English and French.

Since 1981, he has been working as a part-time assistant at the Department of Family Medicine and since 1991, he chairs the department. Since 1.10.2008 he is the vice-dean for strategic planning at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

In 1990-1991, he has been advisor on primary health care of the federal Minister of Health. Since 2010, he is the Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Flemish Minister for Welfare, Health and Family.

He has been member of the Advisory Committee on Medical Training of the EU and of the Scientific Advisory Board of the “Organisation for Accreditation and Quality Assurance” in Switzerland. From 2006 to 2008, Prof. J. De Maeseneer was a member of the Knowledge Network on “Health System” of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health. He actually is a member of the Scientific Committee for the Renewal of Primary Health Care of WHO-Geneva. He has been the Chairman of the Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health (EXPH), advising the European Commission from 2013 until 2016.

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Mr. Marc Van de Casteele, MD PhD,

Coordinator of pharmaceutical assessment, Belgian Institute for Health Insurance and Invalidity

Dr Marc Van De Casteele is internist-hepatologist.

Since 2003, he is a pharmaceutical expert working for the Commission of Reimbursement of Pharmaceuticals. Since 2013, he is the coordinator of the pharmaceutical assessment for the Commission. This Commission gathers at the Department of Pharmaceutical Policy (general councilor: Francis Arickx) of the Belgian Institute for Health Insurance and Invalidity in Brussels (Director General Health Care: Ri De Ridder). The Commission advises the Belgian Minister on applications of reimbursement of pharma-ceuticals.

Dr Van De Casteele is involved in EUnetHTA, the Network of Health Tech-nology Assessment and Medev. He is visiting professor of hepatology at the University of Leuven (Belgium).

Zoltán Kaló is a Professor of Health Economics and Head of the Insti-tute of Economics at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest. He is the co-director of the Health Policy, Planning and Financing master program (in Englsih). Dr. Kaló is also the founder and leader of Syreon Research Institute, an international research corporation specializing in health policy, health economic modeling and technology assessment.

He received Bachelor of Economics degree from the Budapest University of Economics; Medi-cal Doctor degree from the Semmelweis Medical University; MSc in Health Economics degree from the University of York; PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences degree from the Semmelweis University; and DrHabil degree in Sociology from the ELTE University.

He has 20 years of international experience in academia and industry, specializing in health systems design, HTA implementation, health economics and outcomes research, economic modeling, patient access and pricing policies of healthcare technologies.

Dr. Kaló serves as a policy advisor to public decision-makers and global health care corpora-tions. He was a Director of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) between 2012-2014, and the Chair of ISPOR Central and Eastern European Network Executive Committee between 2013-2015.

Mr. Zoltán Kaló ,

Professor of Health Economics, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) / Syreon Research Institute

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Ms. Mariya Samuilova,

Project officer, Migration Health Division, International Organization for Migration

Mariya Samuilova is a Project Officer at Mi-gration Health Division (MHD), IOM. Under the direct supervision of the Senior Regional Migration Health Advisor, European region, she is responsible for the development, coor-dination and implementation of projects and liaison to the EU institutions on migration health.

She has more than 10 years’ experience in research and social policy analysis including more than 8 years in the field of migration and health in Europe.

Mariya joined MHD in 2008, as a researcher and also later as a coordinator of different EU projects, implemented and/or partnered by IOM. Currently she coordinates the imple-mentation of the Equi-Health project, a direct grant agreement between IOM and DG SANTE (2012-2016) and other MHD RO Brussels led projects.

Dr. Dávid Dankó, PhD,

Managing Director, Ideas & Solutions (I&S)

Dávid Dankó is managing partner of Ideas & Solutions (I&S), an independent research and consultancy firm which provides health policy and market access advisory services to pharma and medical device companies with a focus on emerging and middle-income mar-kets. He also holds a position as research leader at the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary, where he lectures pharmaceutical policy and funding.

Dávid has 13 years of experience in health care management & the funding of phar-maceuticals and medical devices. Until 2010 he was member of the executive team for pharmaceutical reform in Hungary as deputy director of reimbursement at the national health insurance fund. He speaks regularly at conferences and workshops on pharmaceu-tical and medical device policies, gives payer communication and negotiation trainings to multinational companies and authorities and he has co-edited a university textbook titled ‘Pharmaceutical Reimbursement’.

Focuses:• Pragmatic value assessment and HTA systems for middle-

income markets• Process and data transparency of pharmaceutical decision-

making processes• Linking managed entry agreements to value assessment of

pharmaceuticals• Negotiations and communication with payers and other

governmental stakeholders• Alternative funding strategies for middle and low-income

countries

Dávid has lectured at the European Market Access University Diplo-ma (EMAUD) programme, the Semmelweis University of Budapest, Debrecen University, Eötvös Loránd University and the former Vi-enna School of Clinical Research. He graduated in Economics from Corvinus University of Budapest and earned a PhD degree in 2012 with his thesis on resource management in pharmaceutical research & development.

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Mr. Denis Horgan,

Executive Director, European Alliance for Personalised Medicine

Denis Horgan is the Executive Director of the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM). Horgan has extensive expertise in health policy and issue advocacy.

Before working with the EAPM, he worked with the European Cancer Patient Coalition and in the European Parliament on a broad array of health issues and in international NGOs on health development projects in Afghanistan, Mexico and Palestine.

Over the course of his career, Horgan has developed public affairs initiatives in the areas of advocacy, social mar-keting, policy support and launch, policy development and media relations.

As a senior policy affairs manager, he has actively been involved in coalition building, grassroots advocacy, confer-ence development and development of policy platforms to support access to reimbursement and treatment at the political level and with institutions and bodies.

Mr. Artur Carvalho,

European Commission, DG Health and Food Safety,Unit B1- Performance of national health systems

Artur Carvalho works at the European Commission since 2010 and at DG Health and Food Safety since 2012.

He graduated in Economics in 1999 and was awarded a Master in European Economics in 2007, in both cases from the Coimbra University (Portugal).

Before joining the European Commission he worked as Executive Director of a Science Park and as Economist and Executive Director in a Regional Development Agency. He taught Enterprise Economics and Financial Ac-counting in Portuguese Universities. He has lived in Portugal, Italy, Brazil and Belgium.

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Mr. Anders Olauson

Chairperson of the Patient Access Partnership (PACT) and an Honorary President of the European Patients’ Forum (EPF)

Anders Olauson was involved in the founding of the Agrens-ka Centre in 1989. He served as director until 2004 and since then has been chairman. He is responsible for establishing The Agrenska Virtual International Academy, a research cen-tre for rare disorders. In 2003, the Eesti Agrenska Foundation was inaugurated, and Anders is serving as Chairman of the Council since then.

Anders is past member of the board of Eurordis, and was president from 1999 to 2001. He represented it as a member of the board of the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) until 2016. He has been president of EPF since June 2005 until 2016, when he was appointed Honorary President for EPF. Anders represents EPF in steering commit-tees, which has been established by DG SANTE and DG Connect.

Between 2006 and 2012, Anders was a member of the advisory group for Health Research within DG Research. Since 2013/14, Anders is appointed member of the Horizon 2020 Advisory group for Societal Challenge - Config-uration ‘Health, demographic change and well-being’.

In 2005, Anders was accepted as a researcher within the PhD program at Gothenburg University. The Swedish Government appointed Anders to serve as a member of the Advisory Council at The National Board of Health and Welfare from 2008 - 2014.

Anders Olauson received HM The King of Sweden’s Medal for his valuable contributions in the field of disability. Anders was presented with the King’s medal 8th size, with the Seraphim Ribbon at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, the 28th of January 2010.

Ms. Annabel Seebohm,

LL.M., Secretary General, Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME)

Annabel Seebohm is the Secretary General of the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME). Prior to joining CPME in May 2016, Annabel worked as head of the Brus-sels office and legal advisor of the German Medical Associ-ation (GMA). From 2007 to 2016 she was also legal advisor of the World Medical Association (WMA).

Annabel studied law at the University of Bonn, undertook her judicial service training in Hamburg and holds a Mas-ters degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is admitted to the Berlin Bar.

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Mr. Richard Bergström,

Director General, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)

Richard Bergström has been the Director General of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) since April 2011. Previously he served for nine years as the Direc-tor-General of LIF, the Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry, following positions in Switzerland in regulatory affairs at the pharmaceutical companies Roche and Novartis. Mr. Berg-ström has also been appointed by the Swedish Government to the Board of the Karolinska Institute. He is a pharmacist by training, receiving his MScPharm degree from the University of Uppsala, Sweden in 1988.

Mr. Dominik Tomek, PharmD, MPH, PhD,

Board of Directors (2014-2016), International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR)

Dr. Dominik Tomek, PharmD., PhD., MPH, 1956, has experience in public and hospital pharmacies, government administration and regulatory agency incl. oncology hospital, Ministry of Health and Health Insurance. He is a founding member of the Slovak Society for Pharmacoeconomics, Slovak Agency for Health Technology Assessment and a founding member and the current president of ISPOR Chapter Slovakia. He was elected as director in the ISPOR Board of Directors for the term 2014 – 2016 and board member of ISPOR CEE Network.

Dr. Tomek served for many years in the Drug Committee of State Institute for Drug Control, Pricing Committee of Ministry of Finance and Reimbursement Committee of Ministry of Health. He is teaching at the Faculty of Medicine, Slovak medical uni-versity, Bratislava, Slovakia. Dr. Tomek has a doctor degree in Clinical Pharmacy, a PhD. in the field of public health and degrees of postgraduate specializations in management of public pharmacy, preparation of radiopharmaceuticals, and revi-sion pharmacy for health insurance, pharmacoeconomics, in management of pub-lic health and in market access. He studied Market Access at the University of Lyon with Prof. Mondher Toumi in EMAUD class.

He pioneered Patient Empowerment and patient education in Slovakia. Since 2010 he is teaching, training and lecturing patients in the field of treatment adherence, prevention, communication, health economy and other drug policy and health pol-icy issues. He initiated patient education on the Faculty of Medicine, where he is supervising this education. As a patient himself, a patient relative and a long time health care provider, is he a dedicated patient advocate. He is vice president and scientific advisor to the Association for the Protection of Patient Rights in Slovak republic and Board Member of the European Patients Forum in Brussels.

Mr. Adrian van den Hoven,

Director General, Medicines for Europe (ME)

Adrian van den Hoven was appointed Director General of the Medicines for Europe (formerly European Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association - EGA) on 1 September 2013. Before this he was Deputy Director General of BUSINESSEUROPE with responsi-bility for the International Relations and Industry departments. He worked as an International Relations researcher and adjunct professor in Italy (EUI), France (Nice) and Canada (Windsor) prior to joining BUSINESSEUROPE in 2003. He received his doctorate in Political Science from the University of Nice, France in 2000.

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EventsWelcome receptionSunday, 11th September, 8 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.Executive Lounge of Hotel Marinela (19th Floor)

DinnerMonday, 12th September, 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. Room “Sofia Grand” at Hotel Marinela (ground floor)

VenueHotel Marinela James Bourchier Boulevard 1001407 Sofia http://www.hotel-marinela.com/

Transportation and DirectionsThe hotel is located in the green area of Sofia, close to the city center. Hotel Marinela is one of the landmarks of the city.

You can arrive by using one of the following options:

By metro (Terminal 2 - Hotel Marinela)Take M1 from “Sofia Airport” station to “Serdika” station. Change to M2 (direction “Vitosha” station) to “James Bourchier” station. Exit towards “Zlaten rog” Street. Take the right through the park until you reach Hotel Marinela (about 200 m).

By carGPS coordinates (Latitude: N 42.6978 / 42°42’52; Longitude: E 23.3217 / 23°20’18)

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Under the auspices of the Bulgarian Ministry of Health

Be well