Schinas: After the pandemic and in the middle of the war, the Europe of health is more necessary than ever

After the pandemic and in the middle of the war, the Europe of Health is more necessary than ever, was his message Vice-President of the European Commission, Margariti Schinaduring the speech entitled “Towards a European Health Union” which he gave via the internet at the opening ceremony of the 14th Panhellenic Congress of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, which is being held in Thessaloniki.

“Both the war in Ukraine and the pandemic prove to us the necessity to have more coordination as Europe and more broadly” noted Mr. Schinas. The vice-president of the European Commission mentioned that Europe offers medical equipment to Ukraine, supports treatment and the provision of medical care at the border, and with a structured support framework has created a network of patient transport to EU hospitals.

Referring to the fight against the pandemic, he noted that the evolution and mutations of the virus are unpredictable and added: “We remain ready and alert. We build our resilience in the calm, to be ready in the storm. A determining factor in this is certainly the vaccination. And we must never stop saying that vaccination saves lives.”

Mr. Schinas characterized as a small miracle the management of the pandemic at the European level, noting that as the EU managed the largest vaccination program in the history of mankind and gave the right to equal and fully synchronized access to vaccination to all Europeans regardless of social , their economic or geographical distribution on the continent.

“At the same time, we activated the Mobility Certificate, which became a new global reference norm in more than 70 countries around the world, and we built the Recovery Fund which, with 800 billion euros in joint borrowing, was able to put our economy and society back on track for growth and recovery . Next to this management of the pandemic is the need to build a new health system, a European Health Union that will give us exactly the sense of security and resilience that we very often found that we did not have at the beginning of the pandemic. When we found out that we no longer make masks or respirators in Europe, when we found out that the raw materials of the pharmaceutical industry are not produced in Europe. We were able to overcome all of this through our overall management of the evil”, pointed out Mr. Schinas. At the same time, he noted that the principle of the European Health Union is its empowerment European Medicines Agency and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

“We are proposing to strengthen the role of these two community organizations, because we don’t want them to tell us what went wrong, but we want them to act proactively, so that they can help us in early diagnosis and management of the threats that we have to deal with. And next to these we created the European Authority for Preparedness and Response to Emergency Health Situations, so that with this new authority we can know as quickly as possible what kind of health response is required for a specific threat. This flagship policy of strengthening European health organizations is something that Europe has needed, needs and will continue to need and must adapt to the conditions of an increasingly changing situation. Very often the EU member states had the impression that these European structures are not needed, but now we know that without these structures we would not be able to deal with the problems as a whole” added Mr. Schoinas. And finally, he mentioned the establishment of EU4Health, which is the first structural fund in the field of public health and which has a “dowry” of more than 5 billion euros, which will be allocated to cross-border cooperation in the health sector.

Mr. Schinas referred to five key initiatives of the EU that are underway and shape its current strategy. These initiatives concern:

*Promoting medicines at low cost for all and ensuring that the European industry remains innovative and a global leader.

*Medical technological products and medical equipment of direct interest. The EU is at the forefront of the effort to ensure that the equipment and technologies that are needed on a daily basis are guaranteed to meet all the conditions and required features.

*The ongoing fight against cancer, in the context of which a recommendation has been approved for the promotion of screening programs, for the early diagnosis of cancer, while initiatives have also been taken for aesthetic and surgical rehabilitation.

* Digitization and the creation of a European Health Data Area with the aim of upgrading the connectivity between health services.

*Ensuring long-term better, accessible, high-quality and low-cost health care. In this context on September 7, the new European Care Strategy was approved in these standards.

“Our central strategy in this is the declaration of 2023 as the European Year of Skills. Skills allow citizens to develop and flourish. They help them overcome crises, adapt to big changes and overcome problems. Is the answer to the question are we moving forward or stagnant? Are we adapting or are we being overtaken by developments? And the health industry is directly related to this. The ability of national systems to offer modern and quality services requires staff with the required skills. There is a widespread need for hands, for workers, for health professionals with upgraded skills, with expertise in the new conditions of the time. Innovation, digitization are rapidly changing the industry, its improvement and development requires the synchronization of human resources with the new data. In 2023, we will table a series of initiatives across the Union to strongly support the development and upgrading of skills and ensure that training reaches everywhere, in every region, sector or social class. Finally, I could not leave out a very basic priority of ours for the coming year. Mental health. A truly complex field, which took on a new dimension with the outbreak of the pandemic. Our intention is to soon bring a new proposal that gathers all the updated data and gives additional possibilities to the modern standards so that we have a coherent quality of life for people, for society and for the functioning of our economy. Everything is connected and creates conditions for social and economic development. Mental health concerns us all, we must deal with it in the foreground and not by hiding it under the table” added Mr. Schinas.

RES-EMP

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