PAE News
Societal Impact of Pain – Thematic Network
Our Societal Impact of Pain (SIP) platform is one of only three topics selected for the prestigious Thematic Networks program in 2018! This fantastic recognition from the European Commission demonstrates the importance of our work to raise awareness about the impact of pain, share expertise and develop strategies to improve pain management.
Pain isn’t just a problem for the person suffering: It has a wider impact on our health system, our economy – and our society. That’s why the European Pain Federation EFIC, Pain Alliance Europe, Active Citizenship Network and Grünenthal joined forces to build Societal Impact of Pain (SIP). Together, these four partners are aiming to raise awareness about the wider impact of pain, bring stakeholders together to share expertise and develop strategies to improve pain management. Our selection as one of just three topics for the European Commission’s Thematic Networks program is an outstanding achievement and an important step forward for SIP’s work.
Thematic Networks brings together experts from a wide range of organizations to discuss key topics related to health. Together, participants create a statement that summarizes their shared position on the topic – and these statements directly influence the European Commission’s approach to health policy.
This potential influence makes the program highly prestigious: And because only three topics are selected, competition for the program is fierce. All suggested topics are put to a vote, where interest groups from the European Commission’s health platform choose the subject they find most interesting or relevant. The Commission then makes a final selection from the topics with the most votes, based on a detailed internal assessment.
SIP already hosts an online stakeholder group on the EU’s health policy platform, which enables stakeholders to exchange documents and share best practice about pain-related subjects. Our inclusion in Thematic Networks now opens up exciting potential to build on this foundation: This is because the high-profile program has a far bigger public outreach and because the statement created by the participants directly influences the European Commission’s policy on this topic. With this landmark achievement, SIP is taking another important step toward its aims of driving legislative action on the issue of pain – for people and for Society.
The SIP Partners are excited to start their work as a Thematic Network:
This recognition from the European Commission is an important achievement for SIP. By promoting awareness of chronic pain through Thematic Networks, we can support quality of life for chronic pain patients and reduce the impact of chronic pain on all areas of society.Joop van Griensven, President of Pain Alliance Europe
I’m excited about this latest milestone and proud of what we’ve achieved with SIP. Being part of Thematic Networks in 2018 gives us a powerful platform to raise awareness and share expertise about pain and enables us to drive progress for more than 100 million people in Europe who live with persistent pain.Bart Morlion, President of the European Pain Federation EFIC
We are proud to be part of this successful multi-stakeholder initiative. The nomination of SIP as a Thematic Network is a great chance to further unify the pain community for an improved pain management in Europe. Gudula Petersen, Governmental Affairs & Patient Centricity at Grünenthal
SIP’s inclusion in Thematic Networks for 2018 will empower citizens to influence policy-making related to pain. By promoting awareness and dialogue, we can drive action on this important topic. Mariano Votta, Director, Active Citizenship Network
This article is shared content from the SIP PLatform
Author: Vittoria Carraro
