#EUelections2024: Health must remain a key priority in the next legislative term

Healthcare professionals and civil society representatives called on policy-makers to introduce a ‘Health check’ for all future policies. Their demand just before the elections to the European Parliament: the ‘Right to Health’ must remain at the top of the EU and national agendas, as citizens demanded at the Conference on the Future of Europe.

National and European health measures must be better coordinated and aligned so as to build a more sustainable health sector that is resilient to future shocks and guarantees equal access to quality healthcare for all. Investment, prevention, technological innovations and early health education are expected to play a key role in this, according to a conference on The State of Health in the EU, held on 4 June in Liège, Belgium. The event was organised by the Civil Society Organisations’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), together with the CHU Liège and the Hôpital de la Citadelle, in the context of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

‘In the next legislative term, 2024-2029, health must remain a key strategic priority for the new European Commission, the new European Parliament and Council,’ said Séamus Boland, President of the Civil Society Organisations’ Group. The European institutions should embrace a ‘One Health’ approach that promotes the inter-linkages between health policy and changing demographics, the digital and environmental transitions, economic security and industrial policy.

Mr Boland stressed that health policy can only function effectively if it is managed alongside accessible, adequate and high-quality social services and public social policies and staffed with sufficient numbers of well-trained health professionals. Reiterating the need for direct involvement and responsibility in healthcare for civil society organisations (CSOs), such as patient associations, he said: ‘The take up and success of European health initiatives and programmes are dependent on transparent, regular and structured dialogue with CSOs. Their ability to carry out this work is in turn dependent on obtaining sustainable and predictable funding.’

Christie Morreale, Vice President of the Government of Wallonia, Minister for Employment, Training, Health, Social Action and the Social Economy, Equality of Opportunity and Women’s Rights, said that the challenges in the health sector would not be limited to State or disciplinary boundaries. ‘Let us adopt a global and integrated approach on health, by focusing our attention on the promotion of health, prevention, access to healthcare, research and innovation, as well as the fight against health inequalities,’ she said, stressing that only a global and integrated approach could guarantee viable health systems.

Ms Morreale concluded: ‘We must move away from a short-term vision and consider health in the long run. We will only be able to claim the ‘Right to Health’ for all by truly committing and investing in innovative strategies. In this mission, the EU is an indisputable partner.’

The conference discussed several fundamental aspects for a strengthened European Health Union:

• The commitment to One Health;
• Digital innovations and their impact on health;
• Sustainability and future-proofing health systems through social investment;
• And the global fight against health inequalities through the prism of European solidarity: the case of rare diseases.

Marc De Paoli, Managing Director of the CHU Liège, welcomed the opportunity to take stock of the situation, using the One Health approach, a systemic and sustainable approach to care, avoiding silos and well-trodden paths. He explained: ‘Running a hospital is no longer simply a matter of treating patients or preventing the onset of diseases. Our job is to provide the means to anticipate risks, to tailor treatments and to support people through crises. It also requires us to “govern” in line with change and not against it, to aim to make programmes sustainable and to ensure proper management, exercising careful consideration.’

Jean-Pascal Labille, Secretary-General of Solidaris Mutualité, focused on the priorities of the European Commission and the importance of participatory democracy. ‘For the next legislative term, we must consolidate and extend the acquis of the EU4Health programme and strengthen the integration of health into all sectoral policies,’ he said. Referring to the Conference on the Future of Europe, Mr Labille highlighted: ‘We must consider a reform of the EU treaties as requested by European citizens. Major deliberative democracy exercises cannot remain empty words because of a lack of follow-up.’

Working together with healthcare professionals is imperative in order to both define and implement a sustainable and comprehensive European Health Union. Speakers repeatedly stressed that future healthcare policy should be characterised by the four ‘Ps’: it should be personalised, preventive, predictable and participatory, placing the patient and the professionals at the centre of the system. Participants also agreed that the digital transition in the health sector and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will require countries to work together and to agree on common standards. A European Plan on Rare Diseases was also urgently called for.

The conclusions and recommendations of the conference will be published soon on the event webpage.