New way of looking at ageing: Today, experts at the European Health Forum Gastein called for a paradigm change in how we view the potential of the aged and ageing societies. Instead of emphasizing the drawbacks of the future age pyramid, society should create a framework that allows senior citizens to contribute their skills and experiences as assets for longer than has been the case until now.

The Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection of the European Parliament (IMCO) adopted unanimously its report on the future of the European Standardization System on Thursday 7 October 2010.

A scientific revolution and a paradigm change in medical care are terms used to describe the changes that genomics, pharmacogenomics or nutrigenomics are having on increasingly individualised, targeted diagnostics and therapy. At the European Health Forum Gastein, experts are calling upon European healthcare systems to meet the challenge of this potential for personalised health care and to establish a suitable framework.

Old age poverty risk: Every fifth person over the age of 65 risks poverty and in some countries more than half the population is at risk. Enormous regional differences can be seen in the availability of homes and assisted living accommodations for seniors, in-home care or hospices and palliative facilities. EHFG-President Leiner is calling for European adjustment funds to help assure an aging process in dignity, irrespective of one’s area of residence.  EHFG board member Pirich advocates blanket palliative care throughout Europe.   

Cambridge reproductive biologist Robert Edwards has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Today, in a number of European countries, infertility patients are still limited in their choice for medically assisted reproduction treatment, experts criticized at the European Health Forum Gastein. Many patients seek treatment outside their home countries.