The EU needs an ambitious and coherent agenda for the 2019-2024 legislative term to boost the resilience, equitability and sustainability of Europe’s healthcare systems. This report, based on a Science|Business expert roundtable, sets out recommendations for such an agenda.
Get your free copy
When it comes to healthcare, Europe has strong foundations on which to build. It already has among the best systems in the world, with the most equitable access. The EU has demonstrated a long-term commitment to European research and innovation policies for health research, building on leading university hospitals and great science. Europe edges out the rest of the world in life expectancy and is on track to reduce early deaths from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases by 1.5 per cent a year by 2020. Companies based in the EU produce almost 80 per cent of the world’s vaccines. The continent is moving into a new era of innovation, where advances from cell and gene therapy, to genomics and precision medicine hold great promise for extending the healthspan of EU citizens.
The engine is there; now, how can the EU help it fire? How can the European institutions help healthcare systems innovate, maintain quality and deliver the economic benefits of a healthy population and a strong life sciences sector?