Fimea to set up a patient advisory board

The Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea has decided to set up a patient advisory board to support the incorporation of the patient and disability perspective in its operations. The patient advisory board will establish a new form of cooperation between Fimea and patient and disability organisations in matters related to medicines and medical devices. Fimea aims to arrange the first meeting of the patient advisory board in the spring of 2020.

Increasing knowledge and understanding between different operators as the principal objective

The size and term of Fimea’s patient advisory board will be determined during its establishment and planning of its operations. Fimea wants to keep the size of the advisory board reasonable to keep the operations conversational and interactive. A fixed term of office will be agreed upon for the participating organisations. This is to ensure that more organisations will have an opportunity to participate in the work of the advisory board.

Once its operations have started, the patient advisory board will meet twice a year. Matters of current interest will be discussed at the meetings, both from the authorities' desk and as taken up by each member of the advisory board. The principal objective of the advisory board is to strengthen the flow of information between the authorities and the organisations that represent patients.

Active operators encouraged to join the patient advisory board

Fimea encourages active patient and disability organisations with direct and effective liaisons with their members to join the advisory board. Additionally, organisations representing patient and disability groups that use medical devices, for example, are encouraged to join the patient advisory board. The supervision of medical devices and supplies will be transferred from Valvira to Fimea by 31 December 2019.

Invitation to a stakeholder discussion session on 4 June 2019 from 1 pm to 3 pm

The organisations targeted by Fimea's operations and the operations transferred from Valvira to Fimea are invited to join in setting up the advisory board and in the planning of its operations. Fimea will arrange a discussion session in the auditorium of the Folkhälsan building (address: Mannerheimintie 97, Helsinki, Finland) on Tuesday, 4 June 2019 from 1 pm to 3 pm.

Fimea will present the advisory board's operating concept and the application process and also wishes to hear and discuss the opinions of different organisations on the subject. Registration for the event will end on 20 May 2019.

Link for registering to the discussion session
 

For further information about Fimea’s patient advisory board, please contact:
Eija Pelkonen, Director-General +358 29 522 3100

For further information about the discussion session, please contact:
Päivi Kiviranta, Development Coordinator, tel. +358 29 522 3522

Email address format: [email protected]