Health

Health is wealth, as the old saying goes.

Many challenges need to be met to grant everybody’s legitimate wish for a long, happy and healthy life. Chronic and infectious diseases, pandemic threats and antimicrobial resistance are on the rise. Also, the side effects of an ageing population will need to be addressed - the number of people in the EU aged over 65 will have grown by 70% by 2050.

European research and innovation in health helps to tackle these challenges. It is an investment in our health and, on a larger scale, an investment in a healthy workforce, a healthy economy and lower public health bills.

The return on this investment will be finding new ways to prevent diseases, developing better diagnostics and more effective therapies, as well as taking up new models of care and new technologies promoting health and wellbeing. New technologies could keep older people active and independent for longer and help European health and care systems to remain sustainable.

Finally, European research and innovation in health is about working together across borders, sharing each other's knowledge and resources and improving our health and care system together.

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