A shared vision for the future of health in Europe – Lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of the present, underlying challenges of healthcare systems throughout Europe. At the same time, it has highlighted the destructive effect that serious public health threats can have on both the health and wellbeing of our citizens and European economies. Health now tops the European political agenda. We must not lose this momentum; investing in public health and healthcare systems will ensure that a similar health crisis will never impact European citizens and countries so profoundly again, and play a vital role in stimulating the economic recovery of Europe.
In 2018, 33 organisations came together under the umbrella of the EU Health Coalition. We jointly developed 20 recommendations for a healthier Europe to promote a shared vision of health.
Critical lessons are being learnt during the COVID-19 outbreak. Once this crisis has passed, we should implement an ambitious reform agenda for our systems, taking into consideration these learnings on prevention, preparedness, cross-border cooperation, health system responsiveness and resilience, as well as political leadership. It is time for the EU to play an important role in ensuring a healthy and equitable future for everyone in Europe. The EU Health Coalition will continue to work together towards this aim, and looks forward to being part of the discussions.
This year, it is time for action. With COVID-19, the need for cooperation between sectors and actors to co-create sustainable solutions has come through more clearly than ever before. Download the EU Health Coalition’s recommendations on healthcare systems, policies for health, research and innovation, health data and digital health and join us on 26 October to co-create implementing actions. Together let’s translate these recommendations into concrete policy change to improve Europeans’ health and health systems’ sustainability. Together, we can shape the future of healthcare.