EU4Health: MEPs reach deal with Council on 2021-2027 EU health programme
On 15 December 2020, the Commission approved the political agreement between the Parliament and the Council to secure a health budget.
EU4Health is the fourth and largest of the EU Health Programmes since their inception in 2003, with a dedicated budget of €5.1 billion allocated to it under the agreement by the European Parliament and Council on the next multiannual financial framework.
EU4Health aims to:
- Make health systems more resilient to deal with cross-border health threats like COVID-19 and improve crisis management capacity;
- Make the European Health Union a reality by investing in cancer care, better pandemic preparedness, availability of medicines and innovation; and
- Boost digital health and disease prevention.
In the first years of the programme, there will be a clear focus on recovery and resilience, in particular pandemic preparedness and response.
Additionally, the Commission’s work on urgent health priorities will be boosted and expanded, such as successful initiatives like the European Reference Networks for rare diseases, the fight against cancer, reducing the number of antimicrobial-resistant infections and pursuing international cooperation on global health threats and challenges.
