On 10 May 2012, the European Commission convened a meeting of the European Health Policy Forum in Brussels. This forum is a multi stakeholder platform aiming at providing relevant input on European health-related policies implemented or monitored by the Commission’s Directorate General on Health and Consumers (DG SANCO).
In the framework of this event, representatives of the Danish EU Presidency highlighted the main achievements in the field of health and notably pointed to the reflection process launched with regard to chronic diseases or sustainability of healthcare systems.
Representatives of the forthcoming Cypriot EU Presidency also detailed the legislative dossiers expected to be handled as from 1st July 2012: the proposal regulation for the programme "health for growth", the continuation of the work on cross border health threats as well as the continuation and possible conclusion of the work on foodstuffs.
Ms Neubauer (DG Sanco - Healthworkforce Unit) reminded the audience of the challenges the EU is facing in terms of recruitment, retention, and training of healthcare professionals and mentioned the areas of cooperation between the Member States and the EU in this field. She also presented the Action Plan for the EU Health Workforce which included four key areas of action:
- Improve forecasting health workforce needs and workforce planning by a Joint Action,
- Better anticipate future skill needs and skill mix in the healthcare sector,
- Development of good practices to improve recruitment and retention rates of health professionals,
- Develop the response to support Member States implementation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the international recruitment of health workers.
The UEMS is involved in the Commission’s Joint Action on European Healthcare Workforce to provide practicing health professionals viewpoint and contribute to shaping the European future policy in this regard.