The European Parliament officially approved the new EU4Health programme for 2021-2027. The Programme has a budget of 5.1 billion EUR, with at least 20% dedicated to disease prevention and health promotion.

The EU4Health goal is to strengthen the EU health systems, so they can better handle future health threats and pandemics. It will do so by making medicines and medical devices more affordable, accessible and available, and by encouraging countries to coordinate with each other and share important and useful data.

Main goals of the programme

One part of making health systems stronger is to better prepare them to handle major cross-border health threats. This way future pandemics can be properly dealt with but also more common health challenges, like ageing population and health inequalities, can be solved.

The EU4Health will also support the development of e-health, such as the creation of the European “health data space”. A common European Health Data Space will promote better exchange and access to different types of health data, not only to support healthcare delivery, but also for health research and health policy making purposes. Moreover, the programme will promote the accessibility of quality healthcare, the improvement of mental health, and the fight against cancer.

It is worth noting that one of the main strengths of the new programme is that it will fight the inequalities that exist in the health sector, not only between different member states, but also between different social groups. The EU4Health also approved the formation of a supply of essential medical supplies and equipment at EU level, which complements the work being done under rescEU, and a reserve of medical and support staff to be mobilised in the event a health crisis.

What’s next

Once the Council has also formally approved the EU4Health Programme, it will enter into force on the day after it is published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The regulation will apply retroactively from 1 January 2021.

_{Image © European Commission, 2020}