Healthy Europe asked prominent decision-makers whether the social contract and solidarity in general is under threat in Europe and about their vision for health and society for 2040. Valentina Prevolnik Rupel, Minister of Health of the Republic of Slovenia, Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig, State Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection of Austria, Herwig Ostermann, Executive Director of Gesundheit Österreich GmbH, and Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Director of the Division of Country Health Policies and Systems of WHO/Europe responded.
Surveys
Healthy Europe introduces four team members who have been working for the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) for many years: IT technician Martin Köstinger, programme planner Louise Boyle, conference coordinator Christine Huttegger, and Young Forum Gastein coordinator Mari Pollari.
Healthy Europe asked three prominent decision-makers why Europe’s health systems are facing a crisis. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, Sandra Gallina, Director-General, European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, and Johannes Rauch, Federal Minister of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, Austria, responded.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were calls to take the momentous step of establishing a European Health Union. What has happened since then? Was it just a case of empty words? Healthy Europe asked two members of the Young Forum Gastein for their opinion.
What are the characteristics of a true European Health Union? Are existing initiatives sufficient for such a union, or are more extensive measures necessary? “Healthy Europe” asked two Young Gasteiners for their opinion.
The possibility of using health promotion to achieve significant improvements in the health of populations at limited expense has been repeatedly discussed and advocated over decades. Healthy Europe asked European experts if this huge potential is now being exploited. Rüdiger Krech, Director of Health Promotion at the WHO; Caroline Costongs, Director of EuroHealthNet; Jan De Maeseneer, Chair of the Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health of the European Commission; and Martin Dietrich, Acting Director of the Federal Centre for Health Education (BzGA) in Germany, took part in the survey.
Healthy Europe asked seven international health experts what they expect from the future after the pandemic is over: Austria’s Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein; Pierre Delsaux, Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission; Marc Pearson and Francesca Columbo from the OECD; Mojca Gabrijelčič Blenkuš, President of EuroHealthNet; Lars Münter, Communications Lead of the Nordic Health 2030 Movement; and Amanda Janoo, Knowledge and Policy Lead of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance.
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.