The opportunities of digitization for the healthcare system, such as through artificial intelligence and big data applications, should become a focus here. Spahn had already described the possibilities of digitization for healthcare in Germany and Europe in a guest article last autumn together with the then-designated EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Spahn Kyriakides also promised tailwind on the topic of “fighting cancer”. Spahn therefore once again welcomed the announcement of a European cancer plan, with which forces can also be pooled at international level. In Germany, fighting cancer with the “National Cancer Plan” has been on the agenda for a long time, and efforts were further expanded with the proclamation of the “National Decade against Cancer” last year.
The Federal Minister of Health used the visit of the EU Commissioner to sign the EU Genome Initiative together with Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek in her presence. The initiative has set itself the goal of collecting at least 1 million genomes across the EU in the next few years. Genomic medicine has great potential: personalized drugs and therapy, more targeted prevention, more accurate diagnoses. Genomic medicine can improve care, especially for cancer and rare diseases, but also for other diseases.