Why European leaders must put health front and centre
A blog by the EU Health Coalition co-chairs, Nathalie Moll, Director General of EFPIA, and Lynne Van Poelgeest-Pomfre
In a year of change, the EU Health Coalition sees opportunities for investing in health, skills and innovation. Political support is vital.
They say A week is a long time in politics. Perhaps that is why the last five years can seem like a lifetime – at least in the history of EU policy on health.
Ahead of the 2019 European Parliament elections, it may have sounded ambitious to propose that health be a central pillar of EU policy. However, in the meantime, we have seen how health can impact every aspect of our lives, and that paradigm shifts are possible.
Over the course of the five years, prompted by a severe global pandemic, the EU has developed a significantly more robust health policy infrastructure than some may have thought possible. The foundations of a European Health Union have been laid; an EU health security framework is evolving (through the ECDC, EMA and HERA); the European Beating Cancer Plan is catalysing progress in oncology; and the emerging European Health Data Space is laying the groundwork for a step change in the digitalisation of health.
Manifesto for a Healthier Europe
It is also five years since the EU Health Coalition came together to unite a sector which was – back then – a somewhat peripheral area in Brussels policymaking circles. Of course, the heavyweight policy issues, including trade, employment and research, all touched on health in a variety of ways. But there is no doubt that health was a niche topic.
Since 2019, the Coalition has doubled its membership to 49, hosted three Summits and published several policy recommendations. We have also published a comprehensive Manifesto setting out our considered view on how Europe can build on recent progress.
The Coalition calls on policymakers to recognise health and the life science sector as a central strategic pillar for Europe. We firmly believe that this is essential to ensure Europeans live healthier and more prosperous lives, and to support the region in regaining its place at the forefront of innovation.
We urge decision-makers at all levels to view health spending as an investment rather than a cost. This, as the OECD has indicated, will help us to deal with future shocks. We share the view that investment is needed if we are to have resilient and sustainable systems. It chimes with the vision, as expressed by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and European Health Observatory on Health Systems & Policies, of a Health Union that cares, prepares and protects.
More can be done to improve the outcomes and experiences of patients in Europe, while enhancing our collective capacity to withstand the stress-tests that the future may bring. Upskilling the European health workforce is an important place to start. If the future is to be patient-centred, digitally enabled and data-driven, healthcare workers and the private life sciences sectors will need the right mix of skills to capitalise on the potential of technology.
Wanted: A health champion to work across sectors
To drive the health agenda forward, the next European Commission will need a Commissioner who is tasked with delivering change. And, as life sciences policy touches on several areas, we strongly believe this role should be supported by a newly created Health & Life Sciences office within the Commission. The new service should report to a Commission Vice President with an explicit mission to spearhead a coherent European strategy, building bridges between DG SANTE, DG HERA, DG RTD, DG CNECT and DG GROW.
With this operational and technical support, and the political strength to match, we can envisage an EU policy that links public health, research and industrial policy – ensuring more research funding to address unmet health needs, stronger support for start-ups and SMEs, and political leadership that champions a competitive and predictable environment for innovation and investment in Europe.
Navigating through a ‘perfect storm’
We do not expect the next five years to be plain sailing. Many of the challenges bubbling under the surface at this point in the last electoral cycle are still with us, including ageing populations and the rising burden of chronic disease, tightening health budgets and health workforce challenges, and the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. In parallel, Europe faces unfolding geopolitical, migration, energy, climate and cost of living crises.
That is why our diverse coalition has come together at the start of this year of change, to urge policymakers at all levels to keep health at the top their agendas. With a new European Parliament and European Commission on the horizon, elections in several European countries, and a host of wider challenges in Europe and its neighbouring countries, our shared goal is to ensure health is not lost in this ‘perfect storm’.
The immense disruption we have faced over the past five years, and the way we addressed it together, shows what can be achieved through collaboration. One of the key lessons is that if we are to be ready for whatever the future brings, political momentum will be a vital ingredient – and the input of a wide range of stakeholders can add real value to the policy ecosystem.
The EU Health Coalition partners are ready to support decision makers in delivering change. Through our combined membership that spans patient organisations and medical societies across all disease areas, hospitals, research institutions, think tanks, and industry in all 27 Member States, we offer our expertise and knowhow.
Our call to policymakers is to match our ambition with action. Let’s take this opportunity to put health at the heart of the European conversation.