INTRODUCTIONS 1.4
Compounding threats, collective response: Why health must drive Europe’s future
As Europe confronts intertwined crises, from pandemics to climate change to antimicrobial resistance, health must move to the heart of integrated policymaking. A coherent, cross-border strategy is essential to protect lives, drive innovation and build a resilient European health agenda
H ealth can no longer be considered a peripheral issue in European policymaking. It must be assumed to be a central political choice. The Covid-19 pandemic made it clear that when health systems fail, societies and economies falter with them. Europe’s health sector is not only facing multiple risks, but it is facing risks that increasingly reinforce each other. Antimicrobial resistance
make it harder to absorb shocks and sustain services. The challenge is compounded by the digital transformation. New technologies such as artificial intelligence, genomics and telemedicine promise greater efficiency and innovation, but they also expose divides in access and raise concerns over data governance. Without trust and interoperability, digital health could deepen inequalities rather than reduce them. A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH What links all these threats is the need for a coherent resilience strategy that works across borders.
continues to warn of an inevitable ‘disease X’, although its calls do not always receive the attention they deserve. Climate change amplifies these vulnerabilities by spreading vector-borne diseases and placing health infrastructure under severe strain. At the same time, Europe’s ageing populations, combined with a shrinking health workforce, Enrico Letta, president, Jacques Delors Institute, and dean, IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs, IE University Enrico Letta, Jacques Delors Institute, and dean, IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs, IE University
threatens to undo decades of medical progress, making even routine procedures dangerous. The World Health Organization
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Health: A Political Choice – The Future of Health in a Fractured World
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