The list of inequalities quotes the inequalities, needs and deficiencies named by the conference participants in the "mini questionnaires" (prior to the conference):
- A refocusing of EU regional-assistance and health-care spending to support reimbursement for cross-border health care for paediatric high-end tertiary care in major organ diseases. This would involve cross-border health care at the south-eastern border regions of the EU where welfare and economic "gradients" exist between various EU-countries.
- Accepting children with complex heart diseases for local or cross-border treatment.
- Accepting children with congenital heart disease and syndromes for local or cross-border treatment.
- Access to academic medical advice in life-threatening reversible diseases.
- Access to expensive diagnostic modalities and treatment, as for example HSCT or new drugs.
- Access to heart surgery for children in Poland.
- Access to non-governmental, non-profit organisations internationally for health care.
- Access to transplantation.
- Addressing the issues of poverty and life opportunities.
- After-treatment of children in their home country after transplantation in Austria or any other country.
- Allocated government budget for medical care is too small in Eastern European countries compared to Western Europe. The Romanian Ministry of health should allocate an increased budget for the improved equipment of medical institutions and training of highly qualified medical personnel rather than spending much money on sending children to medical institutions abroad for treatment. Development of research depends equally on existing infrastructure and budget.
- As the economic conditions in South Eastern Europe improve, health-care for critically ill neonates and infants with congenital heart disease should also benefit from that overall improvement.
- Aspects of quality of life: rehabilitation, sports, insurance, ...
- Better coordination of existing support services.
- Centres of excellence (surgery) should be established for specific diseases and be accessible for all European citizens.
- Complex care for children with cystic fibrosis.
- Corruption in health-care systems should be reduced.
- Currently the main problem in haematology and oncology lies with bone marrow transplants. Unfortunately conditions and diagnostic procedures for adequate monitoring of transplanted patients are inadequate.
- Develop awareness and education among Croatian citizens concerning the need for early detection of CHD (congenital heart disease) and provide appropriate support and timely treatment for children.
- Differences in access to treatment in Western-Eastern Europe.
- Different costs and funding models in Europe.
- Disease-specific networking & communication, e.g. video-conferences ...
- Drug reimbursement levels vary in different EU countries.
- Economic differences.
- Education.
- Emergency care.
- Employment.
- Equal standards needed.
- European citizens should have free access to the best available health services in Europe and not face any restrictions and limitations based on their nationality.
- Evaluation of accessibility to adequate medical treatment within developing eastern countries for different economic and ethnic subgroups.
- Every possible therapy should be available at no cost in Europe. For example: no prostanoids are available in Hungary and many other countries.
- Focus on orphan diseases.
- Health-care providers from eastern countries leave the country due to disproportionally low salaries. As a consequence medical paediatric institutions lack personnel. It should represent a priority for the Romanian Ministry of Health.
- Health inequalities in the therapy of major organ diseases/failures.
- Health insurance and national health programmes in emerging countries.
- Healthcare in foreign countries.
- Healthcare instruction of parents during pregnancy.
- Heart-lung support therapy.
- Home care.
- How should we treat the cases of children with CHD which are refused by Romanian hospitals? Usually they are sent home and wait to die.
- How to spread knowledge and expertise to other countries where there is no medical care system/infrastructure.
- In my view one of the biggest privileges of Austria is the comprehensive basic insurance coverage and its medical provisions and it is up to us to try and support the buildup of similar structures for those less privileged in other countries.
- Income-dependant paediatric healthcare.
- Inequalities (or unnecessary variations) in the safety and outcomes of treatment provided to children with life-threatening conditions.
- Inequalities across Europe do not result only from differences in the economical potential of the countries, but also from the disinterest of health authorities/governments and unwillingness to acknowledge the problems.
- Inequalities in education and training (need for twinning programmes).
- Inequalities in the education of medical students.
- Inequalities of national reimbursement systems of therapies.
- Inequality in access to health.
- Inequality of access to high quality paediatric cardiology and paediatric cardiac surgical services across European countries.
- Inequality, when access to interdisciplinary evaluation is needed.
- Inequality, when people want to learn about prevention.
- Influence of socio-economic status on individual health.
- Insecure medical employment.
- Insufficient budget.
- Insufficient paediatric rehabilitation programs after heart surgery in Lithuania.
- Intervention surgery for children with congenital heart disease.
- Lack of access to surgical services and medication in new, candidate and west Balkan countries.
- Lack of approved drugs for children.
- Lack of money in various healthcare systems.
- Lack of registries of patient outcomes (mortality and morbidity) across Europe.
- Lack of specialists.
- Lack of structured services for young adults who have grown up with congenital heart disease in many countries across Europe.
- Leukaemia (ALL, AML, MOS, CML).
- Matters of facilities for the transport of sick children.
- More public health activities for children.
- Oncology.
- Ongoing health-care instruction of parents during infancy.
- Organ transplantation inequalities due to different legal frameworks.
- Paediatric cardiac surgery.
- Paediatric congenital heart problems do not get sufficient attention or financing in Lithuania.
- Quality of hospital care.
- Raise funds for essential medical equipment and apparatus for the early diagnosis of CHD children (ultrasound etc.) because doctors need state-of-the-art contemporary instruments for better diagnoses.
- Research work concerning paediatric drugs.
- Right heart catheterization in studies with children should not be repeated every 3 months. 6 to 9 months would be the goal.
- Sickle cell disease, immune-deficiencies.
- Standardization of the education of paediatricians within the EU.
- The absence in Romania of a children?s poison emergency centre with adequate analytical facilities.
- The access to lung transplantations for children in Poland.
- The clinical management of cystic fibrosis in Poland.
- The lack of a proper communication between doctors and parents or other persons involved.
- The lack of twinning programmes to support children who are seriously ill.
- The pharma industry is not motivated to search for innovative therapies for children with rare diseases.
- Therapy for severely neurologically affected children.
- To point out basic children?s needs and special needs (kindergarden, therapies for disabled children, ...)
- Treating children with chromosomal anomalies and heart diseases.
- Underfunding of paediatric healthcare.
- Undiagnosed children with chronic renal disease or other rare diseases.
- We do not have suitable rehabilitation facilities for paediatric heart surgery patients in Lithuania.
- We need to explain paediatric cardiology issues to government and society in order to create better facilities, get financial and moral support.
