Communication from the Commission on effective, accessible and resilient health systems

Health systems play a central role in modern societies in helping people maintain and improve their health. Health systems should be able to add more years to life, but also to add more life to years.

Health systems in EU Member States are varied, reflecting different societal choices. However, despite organisational and financial differences, they are built on common values, as recognised by the Council of Health Ministers in 2006: universality, access to good quality care, equity and solidarity.

EU health systems increasingly interact with each other. The entry into force of Directive 2011/24 was a key step in increasing this interaction. Strengthening cooperation between health systems should help them function better when faced with the increasing mobility of patients and healthcare professionals.

Over the last decade, European health systems have faced growing common challenges: increasing cost of healthcare, population ageing associated with a rise of chronic diseases and multi-morbidity leading to growing demand for healthcare, shortages and uneven distribution of health professionals, health inequalities and inequities in access to healthcare.

Effectiveness, safety and patient experience are key components of healthcare quality, an important element of health systems’ performance. Work on patient safety is ongoing at EU level, while patient experience is a key area which will require further attention in the future.

This Communication focuses on effectiveness: health systems’ ability to produce positive health outcomes, i.e. to improve the health of the population.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)215: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:215:FIN

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