Brussels, 29/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - Online health will be the basis of tomorrow's health systems - only the use of new technologies will enable the European states to address the challenge of designing safer health systems that are more effective and less expensive. This is the observation that Greece's Minister for Health Spyridon-Adonis Georgiadis made at the end of the informal meeting on health - which finished in Athens on Tuesday 29 April.
On the sidelines of the discussion on the impact of the economic crisis on health systems and on the urgent need to reform them, the Greek Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU launched a debate on online health and mobile health. “There was huge interest from all the participants on this subject”, Georgiadis stated. During the meeting, European Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg told the delegations of the enormous advantages that new technologies can bring to health systems - particularly in isolated regions. Given the growing importance of online health and the increasing interest that it arouses, the Greek Presidency will organise a forum on e-health - in Athens on 12-14 May - which will discuss all aspects of this issue. Borg announced that the Commission was to publish guidelines on actions to be planned as regards online health, as well as on the interoperability of online health systems. “The development of online health services, especially in times of crisis, can play a driving role in growth and competitiveness, by limiting the costs of health care and by ensuring the viability of health systems, while maintaining a high level of quality and safety for services”, said the Greek Presidency. (IL)