Brussels – Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union has been working to build a more robust health strategy that includes this European Health Union – an initiative aimed to improve the EU’s preparedness for future health crises and strengthen cooperation between its 27 member states.
The strategy also looks at joint procurement of medicines, equipment and vaccines, and new frameworks aimed at securing medical supplies and improving healthcare systems in the member states.
The financial backbone of the European Health Union is EU4Health, a program with a budget of 5.3 billion euros for the 2021–2027 period – making it the largest health program ever launched by the European Commission.
But the EU’s health efforts also include subjects like food safety, or improving public health overall.
However, health remains a national competence, which means that EU countries are responsible for organising their health services and policies. Many countries are facing challenges such as ageing populations and severe staff shortages, which are adding stress to already strained healthcare systems.
In this video, the European Newsroom explores what the EU does in the field of health, and looks at challenges it faces in its efforts to promote an EU-wide approach to health.