We closed with a proud celebration of our 60 years of bringing the benefits of innovation in medical technology to society.
Presentations from our 60 anniversary event in November can still be accessed here and the video on YouTube here.
In January we published our first six Use Cases on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare. These detail how healthcare providers are embedding AI technology to help optimise their workflows, as well as showing how caregivers are applying AI in both decision support and autonomous decision-making.
On 4 February – World Cancer Day – we attended the Conference – “Europe's Beating Cancer Plan: Let's strive for more” – organised by the European Commission. In parallel, we ran a campaign on Social Media on the value of our technologies in the common fight against cancer. You can read our Blog post here.
As COCIR, we have submitted our common reply to the Public Consultation.
At Global level, we as DITTA proudly co-signed two joint statements: Item 22.2: Engagement with non-State actors and Item 20: Data and innovation: draft global strategy on digital health.
Following on the success of previous iterations of our EU Regulatory Affairs Annual Day, we recently held another session, which took place on 3 March in Brussels. This dived into the remaining steps towards the Medical Device Regulation and offered an excellent opportunity for discussions between manufacturers of medical devices and medical software, including SMEs, who are in the process of getting ready and ensuring they are becoming compliant on time.
On 4 March, we held another successful seminar on the Cybersecurity of medical devices, open to all industry, including SMEs, as well as for Notified Bodies, with an interest in the cybersecurity of medical devices and software for healthcare purposes.
We are currently planning a public session - by invitation - to policy makers and stakeholders on the important and critical topic of cancer. The date will be announced as soon as permitted by the WHO assessment of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
Last but not least, on the COVID-19 crisis, we share the growing concerns expressed by policy makers and public health bodies. We are fully supporting the EU’s response to the outbreak and the political priority setting in addressing this crisis. In addition, we welcome the creation of the EU’s Corona Response Investment Fund, the European Commission's announcement proposing to postpone the MDR and accelerate the publication of harmonised standards needed to support the regulatory framework for medical devices and as key tools to ensure the safety and performance of equipment in Europe and beyond.
Since the start of the spread of COVID-19, our members’ products have been in heavy demand in China and, increasingly, in Europe and other parts of the world. Respiratory assistance devices (ventilators), patient monitoring systems, portable X-ray equipment, ultrasound equipment and computed tomography (CT) have all been utilised in the response. In addition, our global companies have shifted their supply priorities to meet the increasing demand in affected countries and regions.
More news to follow on this challenging year.
Nicole Denjoy
March 2020