Event Report – 2026 SANT Hearing

The Hearing began with a presentation of a briefing commissioned by the Policy Department of Directorate for Transformation, Innovation and Health, European Parliament, focused on ‘Strengthening Brain health: Policy Recommendations to Tackle the Rising Burden of Neurological Diseases’. This briefing provided deeper context and insight for MEPs to understand the current state of brain health in the EU, particularly in terms of burden of disease, ongoing policy challenges as well as recommendations for how best to improve and build from the status quo. This helped set the scene and provide insight for why the Hearing is incredibly timely and needed.

Moving into the first Panel and Q&A session, invited experts Mirosław Ząbek (Professor, Head of the Neurosurgery Clinic at Mazowiecki Bródnowski Hospital, Warsaw) and Ana Verdelho (Professor, Associate Professor of Neurology at the School of Medicine, University of Lisbon) spoke on the Successes and challenges of cutting-edge research on neurology and the potential of neurotechnology.

“I think that gene therapy is really the future in medicine, not only in neurosurgery but also in other specialisations” – Professor Mirosław Ząbek, Head of the Neurosurgery Clinic at Mazowiecki Bródnowski Hospital in Warsaw

“We need citizens to be involved and empowered by the understanding that they can also be active in preventing neurodegenerative disorders”. – Professor Ana Verdelho, Associate Professor of Neurology at the School of Medicine, University of Lisbon

Prof. Verdelho started by reminding the audience of the clear need to improve prevention and early intervention for neurological disorders, demonstrating the tangible improvements in the prevalence and incidence of neurological disorders when such policies are in place. The EU should also ensure rigorous, clear and ethical research designs, and improve the training of GPs on neurological health and neurological disorders. Citizens need to be empowered to become actors and active participants in prevention strategies: “Any type of (policy) action needs to be transversal and must be multimodal — and we need citizens to be involved and empowered by the understanding that they can also be active in preventing neurodegenerative disorders“. Prof. Ząbek then took the floor to demonstrate that EU investment in research and clinical infrastructures yield very concrete results, by sharing the experience of a young patient having benefited from gene therapy: “I think that gene therapy is really the future in medicine, not only in neurosurgery but also in other specialisations“.

EBC President-Elect, Professor Sameer Zuberi, and Board Member and Executive Director of the European Federation of Neurological Associations, Dr. Orla Galvin, followed in the second panel of the Hearing, focused on European collaboration on neurological health, particularly in the field of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. They highlighted the urgency that the European Union adopts an overarching and collaborative approach to tackle the growing burden of neurological disorders, which affect more than one in three European citizens. Dr. Galvin reminded the audience that symptoms associated with neurological conditions can often be invisible, making it even more urgent to make people with lived experience equal partners in prevention, care, research and policymaking: “for a European Strategy to be effective for people living with neurological conditions, it must include their insights and expertise. Neurological health requires an integrated life course based approach and not siloed specialities.”

“Neurological health requires an integrated life course based approach and not siloed specialities.” – Orla Galvin, Executive Director, European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA); Board Member, European Brain Council (EBC)

“There is a significant policy overlap between mental health and neurological disease – and the EU has the scale to make a tangible impact”. – Professor Sameer Zuberi, President-Elect of the European Brain Council

Prof. Zuberi then addressed the misconception that neurological disorders only affect older citizens. Most of brain disorders, neurological and mental alike, actually start in early childhood. This means that prevention strategies are essential and must go beyond traditional approaches, by tackling education, socialization, and many more determinants across the entire life course. Brain health is a key driver of competitiveness, leadership in technology and life sciences, resilience and productivity. Neurological disorders have a crucial interplay with many other conditions, notably mental health disorders and rare diseases, requiring overarching approaches and coordination mechanisms to better tackle them. “Neurological health and mental health must be united. They are two sides of the same coin.” urged MEP Vytenis Andriukaitis.

Throughout the public hearing, Members of the European Parliament showed strong willingness and commitment to acting on the burden of brain disorders, neurological and mental alike. They asked panellists how the EU could step up its approach of brain health and neurological disorders, while maximizing the impact of existing initiatives such as the European Partnership for Brain Health.