Because they have knowledge and experience of their own health conditions, patients are indispensable partners in medical research. In order to voice their concerns effectively in the development and implementation of clinical studies, patients need to have access to appropriate training and to scientifically reliable, objective and comprehensive information. Well-trained patients can improve the design and the results of studies.
The European Patients' Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI) provides education and training tools for representatives of patient organisations, including a one-year expert training course for patients, a patient advocate toolkit and an online resource library. The national platform EUPATI Switzerland helps to distribute these tools and serves as a point of contact for inquiries. This national platform was initiated by the Positivrat Schweiz, the University Hospital Basel and Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG, and is supported by the SCTO and Swissmedic.
The SCTO is committed to more active patient involvement. The overall goal is to form a national platform that brings together interested parties from patient organisations, academic institutions, the pharmaceutical industry and authorities. We help to achieve this goal by co-organising events for the EUPATI platform Switzerland and seminars for science journalists. In addition, we establish contact with patients or representatives of patient organisations.
