Reducing the incidence of chronic diseases is the goal of a newly established European Exposome Alliance of the European Parliament. RECETOX has also played a significant role in its establishment. The Alliance aims to place prevention at the heart of the European health and research agenda and focus attention on preventable factors that affect human health throughout life, whether urban planning, air, water, soil and food pollution, socioeconomic and psychological influences, or lifestyle. While Europe currently has several strategies targeting specific diseases, there is no general framework for analysing risk factors common to all chronic diseases. The Alliance aims to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying chronic diseases and their more effective prevention through interventions at three levels: launching a European mission to research the human exposome, building a data space for exposure data, and creating a common European framework to support effective prevention.
The proposed Horizon Europe research mission aims to support the creation of long-term studies that will monitor the chemical, biological, socioeconomic, and psychological exposures of ten million Europeans and their impact on the population health. In combination with existing initiatives, such as the development of a European Health Data Space or the Million European Genomes project, this mission would enable the linking of health, genetic, environmental, and social data and create a globally unique knowledge base for predicting health risks and formulating effective preventive measures. This will contribute to the development of personalized medicine, as well as European competitiveness and social resilience.
Masaryk University, as coordinator of EIRENE, the European research infrastructure for human exposome research, plays a significant role in current activities. "Without high-quality and interoperable environmental and health data, it is impossible to design effective prevention strategies or evaluate them properly," said Jana Klánová, director of the RECETOX centre, at a press conference in the European Parliament. In her speech, she also pointed out that research infrastructures providing open access to extensive experimental capacities, biological samples, and data will be a key pillar of this initiative, highlighting the central role of the EIRENE infrastructure in this regard.
Christophe Clergeau, Member of the European Parliament and the Alliance initiator, mentioned in his speech that prevention is based on knowledge, and knowledge is based on data. "Europe must move from treating diseases to preventing them. The exposome provides us with the knowledge and data we need to tackle the root causes of deteriorating health. With this alliance, we are creating a coalition of scientists, legislators, and civil society strong enough to make prevention a European priority," said Clergeau. Other speakers pointed out that the treatment of chronic diseases represents an enormous financial burden, which could be significantly reduced if, instead of investing in treatment, the causes of the diseases themselves were addressed.
The new alliance calls for better coordination of all programs supported by the European multiannual financial framework, greater coherence in the implementation of existing European initiatives aimed at preventing chronic diseases, harmonization of existing instruments, strengthening synergies across sectors, and stronger support for Member States in the effective implementation of preventive measures. These demands also apply to the Czech Republic, as better harmonization of relevant capacities, tools, and strategies is essential for the effective use of financial resources from the new European multiannual financial framework.
Francois de Ribaucourt PHOTOGRAPHY
