On 20 March a consortium of industry, patients, politicians and NGOs launched a manifesto with a few ideas for the new European Commission. A the event in the European Parliament all invited speakers acknowledged the importance of health in citizens’ wellbeing and the added value of a cross-sectoral approach. In order to achieve a social transformation to sustainable development and reduce health inequality among different social class, now it is the time to design a comprehensive blueprint and take concrete actions. In the session on “health, well-being and inclusive growth”, the Deputy Director of the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Department in the OECD pointed out that health situation is an amplifier of income inequality. Programme Manager from the WHO Europe put health in the perspective of the SDG 2030. “Health is a political choice and business as usual is no longer possible. If we don’t take actions now, we cannot afford the failure in the future.” Following the speeches was a panel discussion involving representatives from trade associations and NGOs such as Re-Imagine Europa, ECHAlliance and EPHA. EPHA raised the example of housing on people’s heath to demonstrate that in order to improve the wellbeing of human, we need a healthy society, a healthy environment and a healthy system. ECHAlliance shared its view on the benefit of digitalization and Institute for European Environmental Policy stressed the importance of biodiversity in human’s health. The event was concluded by the short speeches of MEP Heidi Hautala and Adina-Ionana Valean on their conviction to continue work on cross-sectoral health policy in the coming Parliamentary term. More on the manifesto: https://healthyeurope.eu/
Xiaoyan HU (Adele) (Philips Europe Office)