Live longer, but stay healthy thanks to ‘life sciences’
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A healthier planet that can accommodate the 8 billion people who live there with a life expectancy that lengthens year after year and that aspires to be a time earned by staying in good health. This is the new challenge to be faced by seizing the momentum that comes from scientific innovation provided that it is sustainable for health systems. Complex topics and objectives discussed by numerous experts during the second edition of the Talkin’ Minds event, ‘From demography to the economy: the role of life sciences for Italy’, organized by AstraZeneca and held in Rome with the patronage of Farmindustria and Federated Innovation.
Many and longer lasting
In recent decades, the world’s population has grown rapidly. We are all living longer, but we are born less and less and this has increased the inequality between the different age groups. In 2022, the world population reached 8 billion people and 80% of the over 65s live in the 20 most developed economies that produce 85% of the world’s GDP. In our country, the figure is even more representative, since Italy has the highest age index, i.e. the ratio between the over 65 population and the under 15 population in the European Union. “Human capital is an essential resource for the scientific and technological advancement of a country,” he declared Stephen Vella, adjunct professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. “It is therefore imperative that governments implement policies aimed at future generations, which allow for the full development of their potential, enhancing their abilities through access to knowledge, self-determination, dignity, respect for human rights, equality, security, well-being and an adequate standard of living”.
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The weight of the years and of Covid-19
Yes, fine, we live longer, but if we are not in good health it might not be worth it because illness is suffering, a burden for the family and for society. This is why it’s essential to make up for the time lost due to the pandemic that forced us to postpone prevention. “With the pandemic, prevention has had a significant standstill – he said Loreto Gesualdo, president of the Federation of Italian Medical and Scientific Societies (Fism). “In this phase of recovery, a paradigm shift is essential, adopting an integrated approach for chronic diseases, which can involve different specialists. It is necessary to return to investing in prevention, launching new organizational models that make the National Health System more sustainable, for example by proposing and promoting the concept of a single multidisciplinary prescription, regulated at the state-region conference level, to achieve direct economic savings and indirect”.
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Focus on prevention and invest in health
That the priority now more than ever is prevention was also reiterated by the Minister of Health, Oreste Schillaci who in a message to Talking’ Minds declared: “Promoting a culture of prevention, correct lifestyles and focusing on the effectiveness of innovative therapies is the key to making the healthcare system sustainable and accessible to all Italians, now and in future. We will continue to work to make our country increasingly attractive for investments in such an important sector for a healthier and longer-lived society”.
Making health sustainable
The experts gathered in Rome for the Talkin’ Minds event questioned themselves at length about how to initiate policies necessary for the development of a system that is both fair and sustainable: “The contrast between a growing demand for welfare, linked to structural elements such as the aging of the population, but also to the positive impact of innovation and the growing expectations of the population, and a situation characterized by the progressive downsizing of the commitment of the public system, which has occurred more or less under the radar in recent years” , he has declared Ketty Vaccaro, Censis Health and Welfare Area Manager. “A dynamic, clear in healthcare, in which the obstacles to accessing services and the profound regional differences have already undermined the equity and universalism of the NHS, and which represents a great risk for the country’s overall development possibilities” .
The role of life sciences
The role of Life Sciences is fundamental, defined as the largest investment “in health” in the world, including Italy. In 2021, drug companies invested 1.7 billion euros in research and development, 6% of total investments in Italy (+3.7% compared to 2020). From 2016 to 2021, the growth of investments in R&D was 14%, a dynamic that led to very important results, particularly in some areas of specialization, and increasingly the result of partnerships with public structures. For every euro invested in clinical trials, the overall economic benefit for the NHS is 3 euros.
Pharmaceuticals as a development engine
Global competition is increasingly heated and in order for Italy to be able to maintain and indeed increase its industrial value, rules are needed that recognize pharmaceuticals as a strategic sector. It is necessary to combine access to treatments, sustainability of spending, valorisation and strengthening of investments, in a context of public-private collaboration for the attractiveness of the country and therefore: to guarantee adequate financing for the demand for health and pharmaceutical innovation, with mechanisms for the evaluation of the clinical, social and economic effects of treatments; make health and industrial policies consistent with the country’s development objectives; innovate and simplify the regulatory system, which is essential for competitiveness and for access to therapies.
Innovation and sustainability
From the Talkin’ Minds stage it emerged that for the sustainable development of a long-lived and healthy Italy, it is necessary to maintain a positive balance between investment in innovation on the one hand – thus guaranteeing a greater contribution of innovative therapies for the management and treatment of known pathologies – and quicker access to treatment or, in the case of the healthy population, a natural entry into primary and secondary prevention pathways. “Contributing to maintaining the sustainability of the National Health System is central to AstraZeneca – he declared Lorenzo Wittum, president and CEO of AstraZeneca Italy. “Italy represents a key country for us and this importance is demonstrated by the continuous increase in investments in research and development: over the next two years we will invest more than 90 million euros in Italy, with 150 active clinical trials and the goal of reaching to 200 in 2024. In short, we are preparing to attract significant investments, if the context guarantees access to innovation”.
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