5/11/2009
The Czech Presidency supported a more active approach to solving questions relating to the sustainability of the European health systems. The Health Ministers of the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania agreed with the State Secretaries of Portugal and Greece, the European Health Commissioner, Androulla Vassiliou, the Deputy Director of the WHO/Europe, Nata Menabde, and the Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, Aart de Geus, that in times of financial crisis it is even more important to make sure that the basic values and principles of the European health systems are adhered to. Cooperation between the Member States, exchanges of experiences and sharing best practices also play an important role when it comes to finding the right solution to ensure financially sustainable and quality-oriented national health systems characterised by solidarity.
5/7/2009
On 10 – 12 May, Prague will host a ministerial conference organised by the Czech Presidency and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The conference will address the definition and importance of the financial sustainability of health systems, also against the backdrop of population ageing in Europe.
4/30/2009
In response to the current threat of the Influenza A (H1N1) infection the Czech Republic as a Presidency country of the Council of the European Union assembled a special meeting of the EPSCO Council (Council of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) on Thursday 30 April 2009 in Luxembourg.
4/27/2009
The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic takes the current situation concerning the outbreak of swine influenza with great seriousness. Currently, the Czech Republic is one of the countries best-equipped with antiviral drugs. Several basic measures are given below, which are now being implemented by the Ministry. If the situation requires so, the Ministry is prepared to take further steps, taking into account particularly results of the WHO conference and extraordinary EU Council meeting on swine influenza.
4/20/2009
audio record, presentation
4/20/2009
More information on the posting of documents, outputs, presentations, photogallery and video broadcast.
Financial sustainability is a commonly used term in health policy debates, especially in the context of affordability. However, our understanding of ’affordability ’ may differ. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the notion of financial sustainability of health systems, linking it to solidarity.
Recent low fertility and increasing longevity have resulted in progressive ageing of the European population. Long-term projections of the demographic development assume that in 2050 two people will work for one retired person. Such a large-scale ageing of population is expected to influence negatively the potential growth rate of the EU countries which will lead to the risk of non-sustainability of public finance in a number of Member States. It may result in the increase of healthcare costs. Besides the population ageing, there are two other important commonly cited factors which really affect healthcare expenditures – medical progress and innovation, and rising expectations of patients.
Health systems of the European countries face limited financial resources allocated for healthcare. On the other hand, there are high population expectations, which are strongly influenced by the principle of solidarity and accessibility of healthcare of high-quality for everybody.
Financial sustainability shall be understood rather as an objective than a as goal of the healthcare financing policy. From this point of view, financially sustainable health system is a system which is able to keep the basic principles typical for European health systems. The systems shall maintain solidarity, efficiency and quality, while they shall guarantee manageable healthcare expenditures as well as revenues from the long-term perspective with respect to other sectors financed from the public budget.
The Czech priority will attempt at finding a new complex and clear definition of financial sustainability of health systems and the impact of population ageing. The Czech Republic aims to present a new study which focuses on the revenues of financing of the health systems and its projections. The revenue projection will be compared to the already existing expenditure projections. The last issue to be discussed will be long-term care financing.
The priority of financial sustainability of health systems will point out the topicality and importance of the issue.