Project ENTER: Estonian-Latvian collaboration to develop the delivery and counselling system for small private clinics and increase capabilities to provide modern prenatal screening in less developed regions
The ENTER project represents a significant step forward in the field of prenatal care, offering a vision of more accessible, affordable, and high-quality services for expectant mothers in Latvia. It places a specific focus on non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT).
Through the ENTER project, four organizations, the Competence Centre on Health Technologies in Estonia, and Latvian clinics GenEra, “Ģimenes sirds” and Dubultu, have joined forces to provide high-quality prenatal care and counselling, utilizing modern genomic and digital technologies.
OBJECTIVES: The project´s primary objectives encompass establishing a contemporary digital data exchange and online counselling system while validating its effectiveness through a study involving 300 patients.
By harnessing the already established Estonian NIPT service (NIPTIFY), ENTER aims to empower healthcare providers in Vidzeme, Pierīga, and other Estonian-Latvian cross-boarder regions, thereby enhancing the quality and sustainability of prenatal care.
With approximately 20,000 deliveries in Latvia each year, of which 15% necessiate NIPT due to fetal genetic chromosomal disease risks, accessibility and affordability are critical. Currently, the high costs of tests and the lack of interpretation expertise in clinics restrict access to these vital healthcare services.
The collaboration with CCHT, an Estonian biotech company that has successfully implemented NIPTIFY, promises to provide essential support, ensuring comprehensive service delivery. By sharing expertise across regions, private clinics can offer genetic services without establishing separate competencies in each region. ENTER envisions breaking away from prevailing structures, thereby improving service quality and enhancing accessibility through the integration of digital, genetic, and clinical competencies.
FUNDING: The total project funding amounts 607 700 EUR, with a substantial 80% contribution coming from the Estonia-Latvia Programme 2021-2027.
PERIOD: The project is scheduled to span from October 1st, 2023, to September 30th, 2026.
For an overview of the Interreg VI-A Estonia-Latvia Programme 2021-2027, please see here.
CCHT
During 01.09.2015 - 31.08.2022 CCHT research and development activities are co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund with 6 916 472.93 Euros. The entire budget for EU48695 is 12 097 479,62 Euros. With CCHT project we advance reliable, safe, and cost effective technologies enabling societies worldwide to tackle challenges like the rising incidence of cancers, complex diseases and infertility. The scope of our activities involves the development of genomebased personalisedlevel preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic tools, as recommendations, for addressing complex diseases and cancers, and devising novel cancer treatment drugs and delivery systems, as well as production technologies for diagnostic and therapeutic recombinant proteins. In infertility treatment, we aim on providing better solutions for infertile couples that need medical help in order to have children, in the form of more precise diagnostic and treatment solutions.
For an overview of the frame programme for Competence Centres by Enterprise Estonia, please see here.
