On 9 October 2019, nine EU umbrella health organisations held a debate: ”EU 2019-2024: Health Champions Wanted” on the health policy challenges for the European Union in the coming years. The goal of the event was to raise awareness on the main public health priorities including universal access to high quality and sustainable healthcare, disease prevention, the fight against cross-border healthcare threats and health inequities, as well as a continued supply of medicines for EU citizens. Indeed, these challenges require urgent EU action and appropriate budgets. More in particular… “When we wish people something good for their anniversary or for the New Year, we always say that health is the most important. That is why politics at all levels should make health a priority. While many areas are in the responsibility of the Member States, there is a lot of responsibility for the European Union too, according to the treaties.” (MEP, EPP, Dr Peter Liese) … “My ambition is to have health in all policies, and for strong health policies we need discuss together what we want and how can we achieve a healthier Europe. This debate is an excellent opportunity to share visions with different stakeholders and define how we can address the main public health challenges” (MEP, S&D, Dr Sara Cerdas).
Eduardo Nadal represented the SCIROCCO Exchange project consortium #SCIROCCOxchange – , coordinated by the Scottish Government, at the #EUHealthchampions conference in the European Parliament. He presented briefly the project mission and goals and linked it to the importance of quality, equity and sustainable healthcare systems.
One of the key conclusions, importantly for regional healthcare institutions, is MEP Peter Liese’s remark about the principle of subsidiarity as a shared responsibility between the EU and Member States in terms of funding accountability and policy measures for a more inclusive and efficient healthcare eco-systems on regional and national level.
AER, along SCIROCCO Exchange project partners, are looking forward to contributing to the multi-stakeholder dialogue processes with new MEPs on EU healthcare and public health issues. The consortium, led by the Scottish Government, encourages the European Parliament to join its effort to ensure that health policy remains high on the European Union agenda for the next five years. In line with the debate’s conclusions, the healthcare community believes that, when working together, the EU Member States along the regions, can add genuine value to regional efforts to improve the effectiveness of health systems and deliver patient-centered-care to their communities, making the most of integrated-care good practices for more efficient, sustainable and equity healthcare systems on the regional level.
