The European Association of Nuclear Medicine is hosting the first joint European Nuclear Medicine Day on September 29 in Brussels to address uneven access to nuclear medicine services across Europe, bringing together clinicians, policymakers, and industry leaders to develop coordinated solutions for improving equitable access to diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures.
- Over 10 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed annually in Europe, yet access remains unevenly distributed across regions and countries.
- Access barriers include reimbursement policies, national regulations, radiopharmaceutical supply chains, infrastructure limitations, and geographic disparities that concentrate services in major centers.
- Key discussion topics include regulatory integration, supply chain security, workforce development, and patient perspectives to improve equitable access.
- The meeting will conclude with a joint call to action for 2026-2027 focusing on workforce development, regulatory alignment, resilient supply chains, and strategic investment.
- Advanced radioligand therapies and theranostic treatments require coordinated referral pathways and cross-specialty collaboration to ensure eligible patients access available treatments.
The European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) and Nuclear Medicine Europe will host their first joint European Nuclear Medicine Day on 29 September in Brussels, with access to nuclear medicine at the center of the agenda.
The meeting comes as nuclear medicine’s policy challenges are moving higher up the European agenda. Access is shaped not only by scientific innovation, but also by reimbursement, national regulation, radiopharmaceutical supply, infrastructure, and geography, factors that can leave advanced imaging and therapies concentrated in major centers.
According to a press release from EANM, the event will bring together clinicians, policymakers, industry representatives, and patients to discuss how coordinated European action could improve access to nuclear medicine services.
The program will include representatives from the European Medicines Agency, the European Commission, industry, and the wider nuclear medicine community. Discussions will focus on regulatory integration, infrastructure and supply security, workforce development, and patient perspectives.
From access gaps to implementation
More than 10 million nuclear medicine diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are performed each year in Europe, and more than 50 million worldwide, according to the organizers. These range from early cancer detection to targeted radioligand and theranostic therapies.
Despite this clinical role, access remains uneven. "Nuclear medicine is transforming the way we diagnose and treat disease, yet equitable access to these innovations is still far from a reality across Europe,” EANM President Prof. Dr. Paola Anna Erba said.
Another challenge is turning innovation into routine care. As radioligand therapies and other nuclear medicine applications expand, referral pathways, workforce capacity, and coordination between nuclear medicine, oncology, urology, radiology, and other specialties will become increasingly important to ensure that eligible patients actually reach treatment.
The meeting will conclude with a joint call to action, setting out priorities for 2026–2027, including workforce development, regulatory alignment, resilient supply chains, and strategic investment.
