“Health is not a luxury reserved for the times of plenty!”. Members of the Social Policy and Public Health Committee raised the alarm in their plenary session in Barcelona on 28th June.

In its response to the EC’s Investing in Health document calling for increased efficiency in healthcare, AER reminds that additional spending may be required in order to shift to more efficient care systems.

Reforming healthcare also goes through political leadership: AER has developed a training programme for regional leaders on innovation in health, aiming to fight resistance at political level.

Finally, AER renewed its Committee 2 political structure to carry the word of regions on health and social policy across Europe: Urban Blomberg (Jönköping – SE), Metin Genc (Istanbul – TR) and Agneta Granström (Norrbotten – SE) have been elected Vice-Presidents to support its President, Karsten Uno Petersen (Syddanmark – DK), in his mission.