In addition to the H2O project kick-off meeting, held from 12-14 October 2020, national events are taking place in the four Tier 1 countries where the first observatories will be formed.
- Austria held a national kick-off meeting on 05 November 2020. 39 representatives of all stakeholder groups attended. After a project introduction and overview, breakout sessions considered the topics Governance & Communication, Infrastructure & Technology, and Patient Perspectives.
- The Dutch national kick-off meeting was held on 17 December 2020 with speakers from the Ministry of Health, Health Technology Associations, H2O Work Packages 1 and 5, all involved patient organisations, and Takeda on behalf of the EFPIA partners.
- In Germany the national kick-off took place on 15 January 2021 with participation from all stakeholder groups.
- Spain organised asynchronous meetings with stakeholders in January 2021, with a plan to pursue a formal kick-off meeting dependent on stakeholder availability and scheduling considerations.
These meetings and the information collected have established a solid foundation on which the national teams will implement the Health Outcomes Observatories. Beyond the kick-offs, each country is actively engaging with key stakeholders through further meetings and outreach in order to build support and participation, and to pave the way for future actions.