On 12th of December 2018, the last meeting for the running year 2018 of the Working Group for the Strategic Agenda of IMAGO-Mol Cluster took place at CEMEX premises – Advanced center for research-development in experimental medicine, “Grigore T.Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Iasi.

Mrs. Alina Capitanu, project director CEX-IMAG presented the draft of the Strategic Agenda of IMAGO-MOL Cluster, starting with the mission and vision and ending with the strategic directions. The document has been built taking into consideration the Working Group members’ contribution within carried out meetings and the webinars, starting with 1st of July 2018, and the questionnaires filled in by the members.

There were discussed and agreed the strategic directions of the IMAGO-MOL Cluster with the participants updated according to the proposals made within the meeting of the Working Group from 1st of November 2018 while the final version of the Strategic Agenda will have to be carried out.

5 proposed strategic directions and subsequent activities were set:

SD 1 – Developing the RDI activities by collaborative projects on common interest topics and generating IMAGO–MOL products and services;

SD 2 – Strengthening the institutional capacity of IMAGO-MOL Cluster, through internal networking as well as attracting new members from academia, public and private medical services providers, medical technologies companies;

SD 3 – Increasing the level of specific competencies for the IMAGO-MOL members through activities of training and experience exchange;

SD 4 – Lobby and advocacy for the public policies targeting the medical imaging sector and related;

SD 5 – Increasing the visibility of the cluster through development and implementation of promotion and branding activities.

Considering that starting with 1st of January 2019, Romania will take the lead of European Council Presidency for 6 months, Mrs. Carmen Mihai, innovation manager has performed a presentation of the priorities on health during the Romanian presidency and which can be taken into consideration by the Cluster in order to match its activities:

  • Antimicrobial resistance – future ministerial conference at Bucharest on antimicrobial resistance, on which outcomes and conclusions a Proposal documents will be further negotiated with the EU’s 28;
  • Vaccination – future workshop in Cluj-Napoca in which information and good practices on vaccination programs in Europe will be debated and solutions for raising the vaccination rates and a good vaccines’ stock supply will be identified;
  • Equal access to medical drugs of the EU – informal meeting of the Ministries of Health in Bucharest for strategic debate within the Council on patients access at medical drugs and innovation therapies, price affordable;
  • Patients’ mobility – evaluation of the implementation stage of the Directive  24/2011/UE regarding the rights of the patients on cross border medical assistance (equal treatment for all European patients with rare diseases and under 18);
  • Digital Health (e-Health) – organizing an E-Health Week at Bucharest.

The Strategic Agenda will be accompanied by an Implementation Plan, which will contain a priority projects portfolio within health sector and there will be organized workshops for projects generation in correlation with the existing financing resources, activities which will be developed in 2019. The strategy for expansion and internationalization of the cluster will be realised within the first 6 months of 2020.