The capital city of Malta hosted the congress eHealth Week 2017 from 10 to 12 May, 2017. 

The main theme for this year was Data for Health: the key to personalized sustainable care. Under this topic, the congress sought to give relevance to the data that are located at the heart of the services and the development and implementation of efficient healthcare policies. The speeches, workshops and posters exhibited at the congress focused on making known the use of information, and the opportunities that arise from including information and communication technologies (ICTs) solutions and the implementation of new procedures that place the patient-citizen at the centre.

The Department of Health of the Basque Government alongside Kronikgune presented their experience on the transfer of knowledge and Good Practices between regions. An opportunity to share the acquired knowledge with the attendees at the eHealth Week 2017, as well as the lessons learned and the improvements detected thanks to the partnerships that have been created to date.

In 2016 the European Commission granted the Basque Country four stars as a “Reference Site”, due to its comprehensive and innovative focus on active and healthy ageing. Consequently, the Basque Country committed to participate actively in the deployment and replicability of their Good Practices and support their implementation in other regions.

That same year, the Basque Country was granted collaboration funds for “Twinning” regions. Four Twinnings were achieved, three of which were reference regions in risk stratification and a fourth as a recipient region in patient empowerment. Thus, in February and March 2017, the Basque Government and the General Directorate of Osakidetza received the visit of delegations from Scotland and Liguria (Italy), and in February a delegation from the Basque Country visited Scotland to learn about their innovative good practices in the field of patient empowerment that had been implemented in the region. A delegation from the Aquitaine region (France) shall visit the Basque Country in the month of May.

Click on the link below if you wish to read further details on what happened at the congress: http://www.ehealthweek.org/ehome/index.php?eventid=198654&tabid=447653&