Ministerial visit to Aarhus will focus on how research can benefit patients

The Danish Minister for Health Nick Hækkerup will be visiting Aarhus on Wednesday 19 November 2014. He will meet with representatives from the Faculty of Health at Aarhus University and the Regional Council for the Central Denmark Region. The meeting will take place in the small town of building site sheds at the New University Hospital. Together the parties will discuss health science research with focus on the importance of the research for the patients.

"We want to show examples of the benefits for both citizens and patients from the unique collaboration between the university and the region," says Dean Allan Flyvbjerg.

The agenda of the meeting will therefore include the latest news from health science research into health consultations in primary care, cancer diagnosis in general practice, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in general practice, the use of health data for studies of side effects of medicinal products and interdisciplinary health research. Each item on the agenda will have the question of how the patient can benefit from the research as a focal point.

And there are high expectations for the research. The Central Denmark Region's expectations for the health partnership are that the coherence between treatment, research and development will be strengthened.

"We are proud of the surroundings that we will be able to provide for patients, relatives and staff in the course of the next few years at the New University Hospital," says Bente Nielsen, who is first vice chairman of the Regional Council in the Central Denmark Region.

"But it is no secret that we expect to see health innovation as a result of placing highly qualified researchers and clinicians in the same building as the patients," says Bente Nielsen.

Health screenings make a difference

General practitioner Torsten Lauritzen, DMSC, who is also professor at Aarhus University, will be one of the participants at the meeting with the minister.

"I look forward to the meeting with Minister of Health Nick Hækkerup and appreciate the opportunity to shed a bit more light on the debate about preventive health screenings in primary care that has been taking place in the media," says Torsten Lauritzen.

He goes on to say that preventive health screenings in Danish general practice can be useful, and that they will in all probability be able to reduce the mortality rate of patients with a high risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The risk of these diseases is higher among people who are e.g. overweight, exercise too little, smoke or who have family members with cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

"There is still a great need to develop and optimise preventive health screenings and health consultations. For this reason, I will emphasise to the minister that a political decision to offer preventive health screenings and health consultations to people in high-risk groups should be accompanied by a decision to simultaneously allocate resources for development and evaluation," says Torsten Lauritzen.

He hopes that preventive health screenings focusing on screening for diabetes and the risk of cardiovascular disease will become a permanent option in general practice.

The meeting with the Minister for Health Nick Hækkerup takes place on Wednesday 19 November 2014 at Aarhus University Hospital in Skejby. Dean Allan Flyvbjerg from Aarhus University will host the event. Among the participants are the first and second vice chairmen of the Regional Council in the Central Denmark Region, Bente Nielsen and Anne V. Kristensen.

Further information

Dean Allan Flyvbjerg
Aarhus University, Health
Mobile: +45 5177 9548
dean.health@au.dk

Professor, MD, DMSC Torsten Lauritzen
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health – Section for General Medical Practice
Mobile: +45 2043 6931
tl@ph.au.dk