addressed as it should be. We need preventive measures, a cure and care.”
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European Urology Today
and mentoring should be stimulated as well: “our mission at the EAU is to raise the level of urological care, but this includes efficiency and compassion in hospitals and healthcare services.” The programme offers 25 seats for highly- motivated young urologists and will take place in Innsbruck, Austria on 11-13 January 2024. The deadline to apply is 15 September 2023. Mapping out national policies on early detection Despite the European Union’s successes in creating transnational institutions and the harmonisation of many laws, healthcare policy in Europe is still very much a national concern. The differences in national practice and regulation mean that several unique obstacles exist to a successful Europe-wide approach to early detection of prostate cancer as advocated by the EAU Policy Office and its chairman Prof. Hein Van Poppel (Leuven, BE). The National Societies Meeting was a unique opportunity for those leading the recently-launched Praise-U project to get a better picture directly from the national representatives. Prof. Monique Roobol (Rotterdam, NL) and her team of researchers are in the process of learning about the status quo of early detection of Prostate Cancer across the EU, and mapping out the barriers to effective screening. Questions discussed in Noordwijk included whether official statements or positions on PCa screening already exist in countries, how reimbursement of PSA screening is arranged and who the key decisionmakers are. The EAU Policy Office could play a role in helping national societies overcome political barriers they might face in the adoption of early detection. The Policy Office was also represented in Noordwijk by its Vice-Chair, Prof. Philip Van Kerrebroeck (Antwerp, BE), who shared the office’s efforts beyond prostate cancer prevention and specifically when it comes to a Europe-wide approach on (in)continence health. “Continence is a major problem that affects a large part of Europe’s population and it is currently not
Prof. Van Kerrebroeck pointed out that this ties into European health initiatives, such as collaborative programmes on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and research, as well as European legislation on waste management, green policies and the classification of continence-related products, and that the upcoming European elections were a great time to get continence health on the agenda. Current national approaches to continence are being documented by the Policy Office. All these insights will be published in a manifesto that will be presented at a Summit in the European Parliament in November this year. The EAU has also commissioned a report on the socio-economic costs of continence problems which will be launched at the same Summit. An extensive European campaign will follow to raise awareness for continence health and to align European policies for a more sustainable management of continence care. Building a Europe-wide database Adjunct Secretary General Prof. James N’Dow (Aberdeen, GB) was on hand in Noordwijk to update the national societies on the progress that was being made with the EAU UroEvidenceHub, a recently-launched initiative to collect and process real-world data in order to fill in gaps in current knowledge. EAU Guidelines Office chair Prof. Maria Ribal (Barcelona, ES) gave an update on the IMAGINE project, which documents and strives to analyse adherence to the EAU Guidelines’ recommendations. This has been a collaborative project recruiting data across European centres compiling data on almost 7,000 patients. The project is a good example of the EAU working together with Europe’s national societies, already yielding the first results in a recent paper with a huge list of collaborators. Prof. Ribal announced the launch of IMAGINE Study 2, which aims to describe adherence to Guideline recommendations for antibiotic prophylaxis in cystoscopy, and encouraged the
Editor-in-Chief Prof. J.O.R. Sønksen, Herlev (DK) Section Editors Prof. T.E. Bjerklund Johansen, Oslo (NO) Dr. B.C. Bujoreanu, Cluj Napoca (RO) Prof. O. Hakenberg, Rostock (DE) Dr. P. Østergren, Copenhagen (DK) Dr. G. Ploussard, Toulouse (FR) Prof. J. Rassweiler, Heilbronn (DE) Prof. O. Reich, Munich (DE) Prof. F. Sanguedolce, Barcelona (ES) Prof. S. Tekgül, Ankara (TR) Special Guest Editor Mr. J. Catto, Sheffield (GB) Founding Editor Prof. F. Debruyne, Nijmegen (NL) Editorial Team E. De Groot-Rivera, Arnhem (NL)
Discussions in the meeting’s break-out sessions covered a variety of topical issues and mutual concerns
assembled national societies representatives to join the research network.
S. Fitts, Arnhem (NL) L. Keizer, Arnhem (NL) H. Lurvink, Arnhem (NL) EUT Editorial Office PO Box 30016 6803 AA Arnhem The Netherlands T +31 (0)26 389 0680 EUT@uroweb.org
“Our aims are for the incorporation of real-world evidence from the EAU UroEvidenceHub , alongside traditional clinical trials evidence, into the evidence profiles that underpin our recommendations. Ultimately this will further cement the EAU Guidelines’ place as a leader in the field, and we could not have achieved this without the support and collaboration of the National Societies!” countries can yield great and concrete results. For the UroEvidenceHub, we will do the heavy lifting for you, and support you to get ethical approval to use the platform. The EAU is committed to maintaining and managing the database infrastructure, but we rely on your participation and contributions to make the larger project work.” Prof. N’Dow: “IMAGINE has shown us that meaningful collaboration between different Concerns raised and discussed in one break-out session include the labour-intensity of data management and the required computer literacy for patients who might be contributing directly via Patient-reported outcome measures. Potential
Disclaimer No part of European Urology Today (EUT) may be reproduced without written permission from the Communication Office of the European Association of Urology (EAU). The comments of the reviewers are their own and not necessarily endorsed by the EAU or the Editorial Board. The EAU does not accept liability for the consequences of inaccurate statements or data. Despite of utmost care the EAU and their Communication Office cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions.
Table of Contents
European Urology Today June/July 2023
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