So far, the European Health Union is largely focused on the necessary task of improving health security. A more comprehensive Health Union also needs to consider health promotion. But what does health promotion mean? Is it merely an instrument to nudge individual behaviours, or can it be more than that? A truly health-promoting Union requires […]
Moving towards a healthier Union
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Union is gearing up to create a real Health Union. It aims at making the EU future-proof for health crises to come, at protecting the health of Europeans and, even more importantly, at responding to cross-border health crises in a collective way.
Many questions, however, remain open: in its current project, the Health Union focuses mainly on health security – but what about tackling the factors that determine good or bad health and actively promoting health? As it stands, the Health Union sees ‘health’ as something that is purely about physical health – but what about mental ill-health, which, in the EU, amounts to a hidden pandemic? One project of the Health Union is a European Health Data Space – but what about all those citizens, who do not have access to digital tools, or who simply lack the ability and the competencies to use them properly?
A Health Union is certainly a necessity – but one that tackles only some aspects of the problem would be a missed opportunity. With this dossier, the Progressive Post aims at highlighting a few aspects that need to be included in the future Health Union in order to make it relevant for all citizens.
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Published on 3 May 2022, the proposal for a regulation on the European Health Data Space (EHDS) aims to provide a common framework across EU member states for accessing and sharing health data to support healthcare delivery, such as electronic health records, patient registries, and genomic data, and to facilitate health research, policymaking, and legislation. […]
As we contemplate the building of a health union, we can no longer ignore mental health problems which will affect one in two people at some point in their life. The EU’s approach to health must go beyond physical ailments. Our Union already has the mandate to protect our well-being and can make a tangible […]
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