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Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has become a hot topic among the international health community. I am sure that for all healthcare stakeholders achieving UHC would be like a dream come true.

My pulse is already racing at the prospect of this year’s MedTech Forum. The sequence of events following the 2008-2009 banking crisis has played out rather predictably with a broader economic crisis emerging in 2010 and only this year has the full force of public sector impacts been seen as the spending or money printing spree used to avoid deep recession has shifted to efforts to rebalance economies and pay back the debts that were created by ten years of fiscal laxity.

Europe is an important and continuously growing market for medical technology products. Driven by budgetary pressure on the payer and provider levels as well as by strong competitive dynamics, the commercial climate for established medical technology companies is, however, deteriorating. The recent industry survey MedTech Barometer 2011 conducted by us (and with ‘us’, I mean global strategy and marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners) confirms the presence of increasing commercial challenges but still provides an overall positive short-term business outlook. Yet the longer-term outlook is less positive and suggests that in order to remain successful in the European market place, established players will have to adapt their way of doing business in the future.

Not too long ago, I was invited to a friend’s 40th birthday party. As many other guests I came up with my best wishes and cheers stressing the benefits of getting “settled, mature, wise, stable, change-resistant and risk and-averse…” That was then, but it did make me think when today I was once again reading through the WHO report “Health Technology Assessment of Medical Devices” how ambiguous this whole age perception is.

Next week, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies will change the way they interact with consumers on Facebook. These changes are occurring, not based on new communications strategies or industry regulations, but because Facebook itself is changing its policies.

The European Commission published on 1 June its long-awaited regulation proposal on European standardization. The document consists of the proposed legislative measures which update and consolidate existing EU legislation as well as impact assessments and non-legislative measures such as a strategic vision for European Standards. There were also a number of recommendations aimed at other actors in the EU Standardization system. I am convinced that these proposals are a significant step forward in the development of standards as an essential tool in developing the EU single market.

Korn/Ferry International and Eucomed are co-organising the upcoming “How to differentiate in a changing environment?” conference taking place on 5 July 2011 in Brussels. We have worked closely together to design an exciting programme that will give participants a broad view on the future from a health economic point of view, but the various sessions will also discuss what hospitals are looking for from medical device companies. In addition, we have invited accomplished speakers representing other industries’ perspectives and experiences. In short, this meeting is designed to allow the exchange of experience and ideas, and see what is done in other industries to help medical device companies enhance their competitiveness and remain healthy businesses.

When health and technology go hand in hand, safe, efficient and cost-effective solutions are often the result. Realising the immense potential that these two fields possess if they are well attuned to one another, the Commission is focussing a lot of its attention on eHealth and the benefits that these exciting technologies can bring. But not only the Commission is showing increased interest – people are talking about it, thinking about it or working with eHealth technologies.

AdvaMed and Eucomed are co-organizing the upcoming International Medical Device Industry Compliance Conference, taking place on 18-20 May in London. Both AdvaMed and Eucomed worked closely with our member companies to identify the hottest issues in medical device industry compliance today to shape a truly global, industry specific event. We also worked together to invite accomplished discussion leaders and moderators, and panel participants representing North American and European perspectives and experiences.