The launch event was presided by the first vice president of the Senate, Pedro Sanz; Begoña Barragán, president of the Spanish Cancer Patients Group (GEPAC) and the Association of Patients with Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloproliferative Syndromes (AEAL); Jorge Sierra, president of the Spanish Society of Haematology and Haemotherapy (SEJJ); Ángel Gil, director of the Research and Innovation Chair in National and International Public Health at Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid; and Antonio Bañares, director of Institutional Relations at AbbVie. 

The symposium featured a presentation of the document GlobalLLC: Strategic Health Initiative on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia, endorsed by scientific societies and patient associations. During the event, two rounds of presentations were organised under the title “New strategies for confronting the challenge of cancer and ageing”. The first addressed the issue from the point of view of care quality and health outcomes. The second, from the point of view of equity, innovation and sustainability. 

DrMarta Trapero-Bertran, director of the Research Institute for Evaluation and Public Policies expressed her position in the second round. Dr Trapero-Bertran spoke about the importance of measuring the economic results of clinical interventions, of not losing sight of the social aspects of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and of having a clear understanding of the informal costs of the disease and the loss of productivity it entails. 

The director of the Institute was adamant that it is wrong to assess new therapies solely on the basis of their budgetary impact, as this restricts the analysis to just the cost. She also explained that the assertion that there is a lack of assessment tools is equally invalid, as all that has to be done is to copy the region’s more advanced countries in the field of pharmacoeconomic research. The researcher emphasised that what is needed is a culture of measurement that is still lacking in many instances. 

To watch the full video of the symposium, click here.