Preventing Overdiagnosis

The following statement was adopted by the participants at the end of the 6th Annual Conference held in Copenhagen on August 20– 22 2018.

On behalf of the Preventing Overdiagnosis Board, Scientific Committee and Local Organising Committee we want to thank you for attending the 6th Annual Conference held in Copenhagen on August 20– 22 2018.

The following statement was adopted by the participants at the end of the conference:

This conference regrets the fact that the draft Astana Declaration on Primary Health Care 2018 (From Alma-Ata towards Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals) makes no reference to the public health and clinical challenges of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. These challenges include direct harms to patients and citizens, misallocation of resources, and, over the longer term, they threaten the sustainability of universal healthcare systems and so undermine global health. Sustainable health systems must explicitly manage the twin problems of underuse and overuse.

http://www.who.int/primary-health/conference-phc/DRAFT-Declaration–9-April-2018.pdf