3 May 2012
Celebrating the 10th year of EU Health Programmes, the European Commission and its Executive Agency organised a high level conference, held on the 3rd of May, gathering EU Member States, Members of the European Parliament, scientists, academics, representatives of NGOs and industries, to discuss the results and future perspectives of these programmes.
Participants took this opportunity to present the hundreds of health projects which were financed by these programmes during the last 10 years, for a total amount of nearly €500 million. As the third “Health for Growth” Programme (2014-2020) is currently being debated by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, it was also the occasion to emphasise on new challenges, especially in the current difficult economic climate, and to draw attention on the potential of health for economic growth.
Anne-Sophie Parent, AGE Secretary General, was invited to speak about the evolutions of the European Innovation Partnership on active and healthy ageing and to present the next steps, i.e. the call for commitments which is open until the 31st of May. AGE Platform Europe will use this opportunity to present a proposal on age-friendly environments, calling for a Covenant on Majors on demographic change, as we deeply believe that is paramount to gather local and regional actors to make the difference and reach our objective to create an age-friendly EU by 2020.
At last, this conference was the occasion to present two initiatives. First, John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, launched the fourth consecutive annual health prize for journalists. The competition will focus on three topics: Europe for Patients campaign; active and healthy ageing, as part of the European Year for active ageing and solidarity between generations 2012; and stopping smoking. Journalists are now invited to submit articles. Secondly, the HEIDI, standing for “Health in Europe: Information and Data Interface”, initiative was presented. Functioning as an internet-based wiki, it aims at disseminating health information such as health status, determinants or services. The objective is to overcome the current fragmentation in health date across the EU.
The whole conference was web streamed. It is still possible to listen to the presentations here. You will also find more information on this topic in DG Health and Consumers newsletter, available here
