On 6th June 2012, the European Public Health Alliance organised its 2012 Annual Conference on: "Restructuring Health Systems: How to promote health in times of austerity?" in the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.
John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumers
Zsuzsanna Jakab, Director for WHO-Europe,
Sanjeev Gupta, Deputy-Director for fiscal affairs at the International Monetary Fund and
Pervenche Beres, Chair of the Employment and Social Committee in the European Parliament took part in the debate and discussed the impact of the current financial crisis and the way forward, with representatives from civil society organisations.
"I believe that health is a long term investment. People's health is a key asset for society and for the economy as a whole."
John Dalli
Keynote speakers emphasised the need to invest in healthcare systems even though the financial crisis European Member States are facing today impose high pressure on their budget. All of them pointed to the real impact of the crisis on healthcare budgets but also on access to healthcare by a growing proportion of European citizens unable to cope with increasing costs.
- Links:
- www.epha.org/a/5080