Pla­ne­ta­ry Health Dia­lo­gue: The Need for Trans­for­ma­ti­on to Post-Growth EU Health Sys­tems

With the next edi­ti­on of our trans­for­ma­ti­ve web­i­nar seriesPla­ne­ta­ry Health Dia­lo­gues” on Thurs­day, 4th May 2023, 4.00–5.00 pm CET we would like to focus on the need for trans­for­ma­ti­on of EU health sys­tems towards health equi­ty and a well­be­ing eco­no­my.

Regis­ter here

The Ger­man, and most Euro­pean health sys­tems are part of an eco­no­mic sys­tem that lacks sus­taina­bi­li­ty out­co­mes, with respect to socie­ty, health or eco­lo­gy. With an age­ing popu­la­ti­on, often affec­ted by mul­ti­ple mor­bi­di­ties and spe­ci­fic health needs, future demand for health ser­vices will sky­rock. The­se chal­lenges are ampli­fied by health sys­tems that are his­to­ri­cal­ly ancho­red in the prin­ci­ples of soli­da­ri­ty and sub­si­dia­ri­ty, but at the same time dri­ven by eco­no­mic inte­rests and expan­si­ve growth. This leads intrin­si­cal­ly to nega­ti­ve side-effects such as envi­ron­men­tal pol­lu­ti­on, ine­qua­li­ty of access to health care, low qua­li­ty care and over­con­sump­ti­on of medi­cal care.

The trans­for­ma­ti­on of Euro­pean health sys­tems is over­due. To achie­ve this, we need to take a values-based, for­ward-loo­king per­spec­ti­ve and ask what kind of health sys­tems the EU mem­ber sta­tes will need in 25 years’ time that respect the eco­lo­gi­cal limits while main­tai­ning essen­ti­al social and medi­cal ser­vices.

Buil­ding on our recent think pie­ce The Need for Trans­for­ma­ti­on to a Post-Growth Health and Eco­no­mic Sys­tem, tog­e­ther with Caro­li­ne Cos­tongs, Direc­tor of Euro­He­alth­Net, and Dr. Rem­co van de Pas, Seni­or Rese­ar­cher at the CPHP, we will dis­cuss the fol­lo­wing ques­ti­ons:

  • What would be the values and prin­ci­ples of a future visi­on for Post-Growth EU health sys­tems?
  • What are the poli­cy prio­ri­ties to advan­ce an eco­no­my of well­be­ing and health equi­ty within pla­ne­ta­ry boun­da­ries?
  • How can ‘co-bene­fit poli­cy-making’ look like, that pro­mo­tes the publics’ health and pro­tects the envi­ron­ment?
  • What is nee­ded to cons­train the com­mer­cial dri­vers in the health care sec­tor its­elf?

The Need for Trans­for­ma­ti­on to Post-Growth EU Health sys­tems” is the fourth event of CPHP’s web­i­nar series „Pla­ne­ta­ry Health Dia­lo­gues“, a month­ly exch­an­ge bet­ween with Ger­man and inter­na­tio­nal scho­lars, poli­cy­ma­kers, and civil socie­ty actors to reflect and to col­la­bo­ra­te on ide­as for a para­digm shift towards equi­ty, health and well-being within pla­ne­ta­ry boun­da­ries.