The EU4Health programme was adopted as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to reinforce crisis preparedness in the EU. The pandemic highlighted the fragility of national health systems. The EU4Health programme will bring a contribution to the long-term health challenges by building stronger, more resilient and more accessible health systems.
Health is an investment and, with a €5.3 billion budget during the 2021-27 period, the EU4Health programme is an unparalleled EU financial support in the health area. EU4Health is a clear message that public health is a priority for the EU and it is one of the main instruments to pave the way to a European Health Union.
Established by Regulation (EU) 2021/522EN•••, EU4Health brings an EU added value and complements the policies of the Member States to pursue four general objective representing the ambitions of the programme and ten specific objectives representing the areas of intervention:
- Improve and foster health
- Health promotion and disease prevention, in particular cancer
- International health initiatives and cooperation
- Protect people
- Prevention, preparedness and response to cross-border health threats
- Complementing national stockpiling of essential crisis-relevant products
- Establishing a reserve of medical, healthcare and support staff
- Access to medicinal products, medical devices and crisis-relevant products
- Ensuring that these products are accessible, available and affordable
- Strengthen health systems
- Reinforcing health data, digital tools and services, digital transformation of healthcare
- Enhancing access to healthcare
- Developing and implementing EU health legislation and evidence-based decision making
- Integrated work among national health systems
EU4Health and the European Health Union
EU4Health will pave the way to a European Health UnionEN••• by investing in urgent health priorities:
- response to the COVID-19 crisisEN••• and reinforcing the EU’s resilience for cross-border health threatsEN•••
- Europe’s Beating Cancer PlanEN•••
- Pharmaceutical Strategy for EuropeEN•••
Other areas, such as health systems’ digitalisationEN•••, reducing the number of antimicrobial-resistant infectionsEN••• and improving vaccinationEN••• rates will also be boosted.
The EU will expand successful initiatives like the European Reference NetworksEN••• for rare diseases and continue to pursue international cooperationEN••• on global health threats and challenges.
