ESMO participated in the first ever Steering Group meeting of Decide, the Health Decision Hub hosted by the WHO and co-founded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
With the overarching objective of building on WHO Resolutions on the need to collaborate on health technology assessment (HTA) in support of Universal Health Coverage (whose international day was celebrated last Saturday, 12 December), and offering solutions for evidence-based decisions in health, Decide will work across key areas of healthcare, including HTA, benefit package, capital investments and priority settings, with a strong focus on non-communicable diseases and cancer in particular.
Thanks to its recognised position as the leading medical oncology society in Europe, with a track record of fruitful activities in health policy, in particular with regards to healthcare system strengthening, ESMO will be called on to provide strategic guidance in a number of fields related to oncology, cancer care and non-communicable diseases.
Other Steering Group members are: the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Hospital and Healthcare Federation and the International Network of Agencies for HTA, together with the WHO and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.