The future of the Ger­man health sys­tem

The future of the Ger­man health sys­tem

In the working stream “The Future of the Ger­man Health Sys­tem” we are con­cer­ned with both the adapt­a­ti­on of the Ger­man health sys­tem to the effects of cli­ma­te and envi­ron­men­tal chan­ges and with the trans­for­ma­ti­on to a cli­ma­te-neu­tral, eco­lo­gi­cal­ly sus­tainable, high-qua­li­ty, acces­si­ble and afforda­ble health­ca­re sys­tem for cur­rent and future gene­ra­ti­ons.

Our focus lies pri­ma­ri­ly on the legal and struc­tu­ral frame­works that must be crea­ted to enable this trans­for­ma­ti­on and to inte­gra­te socio-eco­lo­gi­cal cri­te­ria into all aspects of the health­ca­re infra­struc­tu­re and to exploit the syn­er­gies of pla­ne­ta­ry health, pre­ven­ti­on and public health.

Due to its com­ple­xi­ty in terms of its regu­la­to­ry frame­work, the many dif­fe­rent actors invol­ved, and its diver­se impact on socie­ty, the health sec­tor is a com­plex­the health sec­tor is a rele­vant and prio­ri­ti­sed sec­tor for trans­for­ma­ti­on efforts. In order to achie­ve health and pro­spe­ri­ty against the back­drop of future cli­ma­te and envi­ron­men­tal chal­lenges, it is neces­sa­ry to trans­form the health care sec­tor towards sus­taina­bil­ty much more rapidly, while at the same time gene­ra­ting added value and ser­ving as a role model for other sec­tors.

In col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with health stake­hol­ders, sci­en­tists and poli­cy­ma­kers, we want to ans­wer, among others, the fol­lo­wing ques­ti­ons:

  • Which reforms in the health sec­tor are requi­red to enable soci­al­ly just health to the hig­hest medi­cal stan­dards within pla­ne­ta­ry boun­da­ries?
  • What can we learn for pla­ne­ta­ry health from pre­vious efforts to estab­lish struc­tu­ral pre­ven­ti­on as a main pil­lar in health and social poli­cy?  
  • How can equal health oppor­tu­ni­ties and eco­lo­gi­cal sus­taina­bi­li­ty be con­side­red tog­e­ther in the gover­nan­ce of the health sys­tem?
  • Which legal and struc­tu­ral frame­works have to be estab­lished to prepa­re Ger­ma­ny ade­qua­te­ly for the impacts of the eco­lo­gi­cal cri­ses and their health impacts?

Cont­act us

Doro­thea Baltruks

Head of Rese­arch and Poli­cy

Katha­ri­na Wab­nitz

Rese­arch Asso­cia­te