EHLTF

The Active Citizenship Network in cooperation with EU Health programme, European Economic and Social committee, Alliance of Liberals, and Democrats of Europe organized the event, which was held in Brussels, Belgium on 15^th – 16^th May 2012

The program included various issues on patient’s rights, health, active ageing, pubic policies, and best practice examples. The second day of the conference was targeted on presentation of recommendations and patient’s commitment.

The conference, held in the Van Maerlant Bulding, was attended by 120 Participants from 21 Countries; 45 national and European Patients’ Associations; 3 European Institutions: EU Commission, EP, EESC. Dr. Lubos Michalov represented our European Heart and Lung Transplant Federation.

The conference was focused on the European topic of the year “Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations”. Insofar as the number of ageing citizens is rapidly increasing (Europeans aged 65+ is expected to increase by 45% between 2008 and 2030, and even further to over 30% of the population by 2060) the issues of their access to health care services and the respect of their rights as patients are becoming central and extremely challenging.
The objective of the conference was thus to demonstrate that part of the solution resides in a change of perspective vis-à-vis ageing citizens, from weak patients into "empowered users" of health care services, able to contribute to a better implementation of their rights. Best practices on Active Ageing citizens in health policies have been presented and discussed. The BP focused on what healthcare services, civic associations and governments are doing in this area to reveal the concrete benefits of this approach.

The main outcome of the conference has consisted on the contributing to the empowerment and active participation of ageing citizens thanks to the production and the dissemination of 13 Recommendations.