Ex-post evaluation of the 2nd Health Programme 2008-2013

An ex-post evaluation report published in May 2016 assessed the main outcomes – both the achievements and areas for improvement, of the European Commission's second Health Programme which ran from 2008 to 2013 with a budget of €321.5m. The recommendations would be taken into account to improve the implementation of the third Health Programme (2014-2020).

The second health programme set out to achieve a wide range of objectives under three main headings:

1) to improve citizens' health security
2) to promote health and reduce health inequalities
3) to generate and disseminate health information and knowledge.

It strived to focus activities on areas of high relevance for EU countries and stakeholders in line with the Commission's broader policy orientations, as set out in the Europe 2020 strategy.

The evaluation took account of programme management, dissemination practices, impact, and synergies with other programmes and services, and was structured around 13 case studies including five projects, five joint actions and three tenders.

The evaluation found that the Programme delivered valuable outputs with a clear link to EU health policy priorities and national priorities. It also provided EU-added value, particularly linked with the exchange of best practice and information between EU countries, in areas such as rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases and safety of organs for donation. The evaluation also found improvements in the second health programme, as compared with the first one (2003-2007).

However, the dissemination of action outputs was found to be varied, and reaching key stakeholders was not systematically ensured. The evaluation also underlined the need for improvement in transforming outputs into results and tangible impacts. Finally, while synergies with the EU research programme were shown, the report found that use of funding instruments such as structural funds could be improved.