Health

The pandemic demonstrated the close link between health and well-functioning societies.

The interrelation between health, economy, culture, employment, education, the environment and social cohesion is clearer than ever. Good health is both a prerequisite to participation in civic and economic life, and largely a result of the living conditions, structures and institutions that shape our lives.

Healthy, resilient and stable societies can be created and will be a crucial resource as Europe faces new challenges.

The pandemic shone a light on the strengths and weaknesses of health systems, but it is only one of the internal and external forces driving change and innovation. Person-centred care is one example of the ways in which health care delivery – including the roles of patients and practitioners – is changing.

But it is no longer simply a question of who can make us better when we are ill, but what can make us strong, healthy and resilient. There are changing demands on the private sector, governments, individuals and society to enable us all to live well and in good health.

The state of health also reflects wider European hopes, needs, values and challenges. For example, questions about how and who pays for the systems we depend on – including health – are valid and pressing; challenges of social and economic instability are reflected in health inequalities; and the questions of changes in the role of states and institutions are reflected in calls from citizens for more action on health through the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Friends of Europe’s 2023 health programme will look at health in tandem with wider social and economic changes; by building on the links between them, it will examine how to build health as a resource for the challenges to come.

The programme will address four key questions:

1. How is the digital revolution changing health? Digitalisation will change the way health care is delivered, the way treatments are developed, and the way we interact with health systems.
2. What does Europe’s green transition mean for health? A changing climate means changing health needs. How can we make systems ready for the future? What impact will Europe’s green transition have on health? Are there innovations that can support both health and Europe’s climate ambitions? And can the health sector ever be ‘greened’?
3. How can we prepare for changing demographics in Europe? How can we ensure health across the life-course, what will it mean to live well in the world’s oldest continent, and how does and will ‘care’ affect intergenerational solidarity and participation?
4. What kind of economy works for people? What are the risks to health in a post-pandemic, volatile economy? Is it possible to build a healthy economy?

To help answer these questions, the programme will look in particular at non-communicable diseases, home-grown innovation, and inequality and solidarity.

Briefing Paper: Health, and the Renewed Social Contract 2022