Brussels, 07/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - In a communication adopted on 4 April, the European Commission lays out an agenda for making Europe's health systems fit the current challenges and pressures. It highlights a number of initiatives the EU can develop and build upon to help the member states ensure that citizens' aspirations of high-quality healthcare can be met. It will focus on the methods and tools that will allow the national authorities to achieve greater effectiveness, accessibility and resilience for their health systems, in line with reform recommendations addressed to them in the context of the European Semester. The member states are also encouraged to make good use of European funding instruments, such as structural funds, in order to implement the recommended reforms. “The Commission has put the issue of sustainability of healthcare systems under the microscope. I am confident that we have amassed a robust evidence-base of principles and tools that can support member states in developing accessible, resilient and effective health care systems”, said Health Commissioner Tonio Borg.
The communication recommends three essential actions to the member states for the management of their health systems: 1) strengthening their effectiveness, bearing in mind that the first objective of the health system is to improve the health of the population. This can be done through developing an integrated approach to care so as to avoid over-reliance on hospitals; 2) increasing their accessibility, so that health systems provide healthcare services to the whole population. This result can be achieved through better planning of the health workforce and a more effective use of medicines. Furthermore, the directive on cross-border care will provide increased transparency and better availability of care; 3) improving their resilience to changing environments, to enable them to identify innovative solutions. This capacity can be strengthened by choosing more effective and efficient treatments. It is also important to build efficient information flows and innovative information and communication technologies in health. (IL)