In a recent move the European doctors’ ambitions to keep building a coherent as well as an equitable European Health Union have been published by the Standing Committee of European Doctors- CPME.
It’s Health Check for Europe 2024-2029 goes ahead and sets out a vision when it comes to the EU’s health priorities ahead of the European Parliament election that is coming up in June.
This has in it five ambitions that urge European policymakers to take care of the health workforce crisis, make sure of a safe digital transformation of healthcare, help with a healthier lifestyle, make sure of the accessibility and effectiveness of drugs, and take climate action when it comes to better health.
Remarking on the ambitions that have been outlined in the Health Check vision, Dr. Christiaan Keijzer, CPME president, opined that while European nations have gone ahead and made huge advances when it comes to collaboration on health in recent years, one cannot take a step backwards.
He added that the COVID-19 pandemic has made everybody witness that health is the foundation of the economy and society and has also exposed the issues that have not been solved as yet. Their health systems still go on to suffer from deep structural flaws, and the health workforce is exhausted and, at the same time, undervalued.
The European Health Union is in no way complete. The EU, for that matter, needs a coherent long-term vision when it comes to health in Europe and beyond in order to have equitable access in terms of healthcare for patients.
The European doctors are strongly committed partners when it comes to making these ambitions a reality.
When it comes to the subject of recruitment as well as retention, the Health Check highlights challenges pertaining to working conditions that are untenable, excessive hours, and insufficient resources, which further mean that medicine is losing its attractiveness as a life-long profession, and if one goes ahead on the same, there will no longer be a functioning health workforce.
All this follows the publication of CPME‘s policy in November last year, which offered recommendations to uplift the wellbeing of doctors throughout Europe.
The policy looks forward to enhancing patient care, excellence in professional care, and complete job satisfaction by way of addressing issues such as work-related tensions, organizational culture, working environments that are supportive, burnout, as well as work-life balance.
It is well to be noted that the CPME went on to present the five ambitions to European Parliament President, MEP Roberta Metsola, on January 22, 2024.
