Vassiliou says crisis not an excuse to cut health funding

CUTTING health funding during the economic crisis would be wrong, EU Commissioner for Health, Androulla Vassiliou has said.

Vassiliou said that now was the best time for a discussion on the health sector but funding cuts were not the way to go, she said.

“Investment in the health sector can contribute to tackle unemployment. Consequently, economy and health are firmly linked concepts,” she said.

Outlining her main targets under the EU Strategy for Health, Vassiliou said the key objective was to seek a high level of health in an aging Europe, to protect European citizens from the risks to public health, and to promote a dynamic health system and new technologies.

Vassiliou was the main speaker at an event of the European Policy Centre titled Building a Healthier Europe: Opportunities and Prospects.

She stressed the importance of preventive health care and the need to change dietary habits, especially among young people, and also talked about inequality in health services.

“All European citizens should be healthy and have access to high level of health services, regardless of where they live, what their occupation is and how much money they earn”, she said.