Portugal’s Minister of Health, Marta Temido; Austria’s Minister of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, Rudolf Anschober, and Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe explain what “Dancing with elephants”, the main theme of the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) 2020, means to them.
Health policies
In 2018, as many as 3.1 million cancer cases were diagnosed in Europe. This figure is set to reach 3.9 million by 2040. A strategy presented by the European Commission aims to improve the prevention, early detection, therapy and follow-up treatment of cancer.
Imagine an economy that focuses on achieving population wellbeing and social justice instead of profit and mathematical growth. This may sound utopian, but some governments are already making progress.
Caroline Costongs, Director of EuroHealthNet, explains why health inequalities have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic and why subsequent rebuilding must be healthier, more social, and more sustainable.
Vaccine hesitancy is growing in some European countries. Counterstrategies are necessary at a national level and also in cooperation between states.
Päivi Sillanaukee, Permanent Secretary in the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on the economy of well-being and why this is a priority area of Finland’s Presidency of the EU Council.
Herwig Ostermann, Executive Director of Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG), on disruption by health information, data as the basis for policy decisions, and the European project InfAct.
Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, on the importance of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the health sector and why we are currently living at the expense of the present and future generations.
Many pension funds around the world invest their money in the tobacco industry, among others. Australian cancer specialist Bronwyn King is successfully fighting to change this.
The health systems across Europe are facing similar challenges owing to demographic change and increasing expenditure. Solutions to these challenges can be found relatively easily using suitable strategies, according to European experts.