“These have been very difficult months for everyone, especially for those suffering from a disease. During the pandemic, the role of patient associations was fundamental. They mobilized to support all those patients who had difficulty accessing examinations, visits and treatments , due to the restrictions dictated by the health emergency: a further demonstration of how important it is to have patient associations at our side, in order to improve everyone’s care and quality of life. great effort to be at the side of the National Health Service and of patients. In the moment in which our paths have crossed, we have further understood how important the concept of Allies for Health is “. This was stated by Pasquale Frega, Country President & Pharma Head of Novartis, speaking at the presentation of the new board of patient associations of Aleati per Salute, the portal dedicated to medical-scientific information created by Novartis. “Health has strongly returned to the center of the debate – added Frega – and it is a priority that the institutions and the government, not only in Italy but all over the world, have finally put at the top of the agenda. scenario we have before us is a scenario that forces us to be even more committed and active in reimagining the way in which treatments are developed and delivered to all our patients “. And on the need to simplify access to diagnosis and treatment by the patients themselves, Frega has no doubts: “In recent months – he stressed – emergency situations have been resorted to which, however, have made it possible to solve access problems. to diagnoses and treatments, in some moments limited by the pandemic. These solutions must be adopted more widely, we have seen their effectiveness. They are solutions that start from the so-called connected care, therefore from all digital transformation, which certainly represents another ally of our effort to improve health for all. I believe that an important example was the development of vaccines, for which everyone mobilized to receive, in less than 12 months, the first doses to be administered to patients. so fast have been made possible thanks to the effort of many institutions, doctors, patients, industry and not only that, in a great alliance for health, to save the communities have achieved this. And I believe that we need to start again from here, with more courage. But the collaboration between patient associations, pharmaceutical industries and institutions becomes fundamental for the future “.