HEALTH

1
HEALTH WEALTH
Policies and Business Mechanisms in the EU
Healthcare sector Finance and Health Convergence
Systems Health and Economic growth Bucharest, 25
September 2008 Enrique ESTELLER
ALBERICH General Secretariat of the Council of
the EU Disclaimer The views expressed are
purely those of the writer and may not in any
circumstances be regarded as stating an official
position of the Council.
2
Institutional setup

• Council of the European Union
• WP on Public Health
• General Secretariat of the Council DG I provides
  logistical, procedural and technical support to
  the Presidency-in-office (France)
• Commission DG Health and Consumers
• European Parliament Committee on the
  Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

3
Legal basis

• ARTICLE 152 TEC
• Community action in the field of public health
  shall fully respect the responsibilities of the
  Member States for the organisation and delivery
  of health services and medical care
• Invites the Community to contribute towards
  ensuring a high level of human health protection
  by
• encouraging cooperation between the Member States
  and support their action if necessary
• foster cooperation with third countries and
  international organisations (WHO)

4
EU Presidency priority

• The French, Czech and Swedish EU Presidencies
  (July 2008 December 2009)
• In an ageing society, preventive health work is
  essential for preserving health and avoiding
  increased health care costs later in life
• The Presidencies will support initiatives aimed
  at helping elderly people to live healthy and
  active lives. When in need of healthcare it is
  necessary that they receive healthcare of high
  quality

5
Lisbon Strategy

• In the core of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and
  Jobs
• Older populations mean higher pensions and
  healthcare costs that need to be financed by the
  working population and by businesses
• Opportunity cost of doing too little to prevent
  ill-health, resulting in the use of limited
  health resources for preventable illnesses

6
The HLY indicator

• The Healthy Life Years indicator
• measures the number of remaining years that a
  person of a certain age is still supposed to live
  without disability
• is a solid indicator to monitor health as a
  productivity/economic factor
• Any loss in health will alter the pattern of
  resource allocation within the healthcare systems
  and affect consumption and production

7
The HLY indicator

• Data on the Healthy Life Years in the EU

8
Contact

• Enrique ESTELLER ALBERICH
• General Secretariat of the Council of the EU
• DGI 2A Health/Consumers/Foodstuffs
• Rue de la Loi, 175
• Office JL 10-40-CG-22
• B-1048 Brussels
• Tel. [phone]
• e-mail enrique.esteller_at_consilium.europa.eu

9
Economic cost of ill-health

• Evidence
• Poor health in low-income countries reduced
  economic growth (healthier people are more
  productive)
• Ill health (stroke, cancer, heart attack) can
  also affect retirement age
• Smoking and alcohol dependence affect wages
• The economic costs of ill-health in the
  European Region by Regina Sauto Arce, Martin
  McKee, Lorenzo Rocco and Marc Suhrcke

10
Investing in health systems

• Evidence
• Health is economically important (7 GDP EUR-15,
  9.3 active workforce EUR-27)
• Health can be a productive/spending sector
• Better health reduces the demands on health care
• Health systems, health and wealth assessing
  the case for investing in health systems by
  Josep Figueras, Martin McKee, Suszy Lessof,
  Antonio Duran and Nata Menabde

11
Tallinn Charter (WHO-Europe)

• Health Systems for Health and Wealth (27 June
  2008)
• effective health systems promote both health and
  wealth
• investment in health is investing in human
  development
• well functioning health systems are essential for
  any society

12
References

• Council of the European Union http//www.consiliu
  m.europa.eu
• WHO Euro Region http//www.euro.who.int/healths
  ystems2008
• EU Health Portal
• http//ec.europa.eu/health-eu/index_en.htm
• THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!