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19.06.2015 7:55
Bringing Europe's brightest young minds together with its politicians to find innovative solutions in healthcare
Over the past decades, major progress has been made in the area of public health as a result of key achievements in European health research and medicine, improving living standards and levels of education, nutrition and access to high-quality healthcare.
But many challenges remain.
The result of economic development and successes in public health and healthcare has resulted in an increase in life expectancy.
At the same time, fertility has been steadily declining in the EU since the mid-1960s and is currently decreasing, in particular in Eastern and Southern Europe.
The share of older people is therefore growing, and is already greater than the proportion of children in the population. By 2060, the share of people in the population who are over 65 years of age will more than double in number, with an associated increase in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer and other dementia.
In the decade before the crisis, health was one of the fastest growing spending items for governments in most Member States. However health budgets, particularly those related to prevention and health promotion, have been dramatically cut during the past few years.
By 2060, the share of people in the population who are over 65 years of age will more than double in number, with an associated increase in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer and other dementia
This state-of-play in Europe’s health shows that EU policies and strategies are needed. For these reasons we are committed to working, in the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, over the next years to promote healthy lifestyles, protect healthy living standards and improve the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Prevention, detection and encouraging innovation also formed a core part of the proposals brought to the European Parliament by the European Health Parliament this month.
The European Health Parliament (EHP) is a platform that brings together 80 motivated young healthcare experts from all over Europe. Most of them under the age of 30, they work across sectors and in different types of organisations but share a passion for healthcare policy. They each bring their skills and unique backgrounds (from embassies to the pharmaceutical industry) together, in their spare time, to research solutions to current healthcare challenges.
Events such as these show that we need more EU involvement, more coordination between Member States and that our young citizens can play an important role in helping us reach our targets with their enthusiasm and ideas
I'm delighted to have had the honour of hosting these young Europeans, who presented the results of their research into improving Europe's healthcare system to MEPs, with proposals in areas that critically impact future healthcare policy. In addition to proposals on access to therapeutic innovation, patient empowerment and centricity and the prevention of chronic diseases, the young experts called on the EU to complement and support Member-State activities in the following areas.
Big data in healthcare
Electronic/mobile-health
Cross-border health threats
The economic dimension of healthcare
These 4 areas are also priorities for our Group, which has always taken incisive action on health policies, with the aim of ensuring a high level of protection of the health of European citizens.
We are committed to promoting healthy lifestyles, protecting healthy living standards and improving the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of diseases
The challenges we face currently in Europe and those that the future will bring call for a strong commitment from the European institutions - and the EPP Group is ready to play its role.
Events such as these show that we need more EU involvement, more coordination between Member States and that our young citizens can play an important role in helping us reach our targets with their enthusiasm and ideas.
We believe in people. #believeinpeople #UpToUs @giovannilavia
former EPP Group MEP