EPHA: Policy-makers and civil society warned about the risks of neglecting public health in times of austerity

On 6 June 2012 the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) held a day-long conference entitled ’’Restructuring health systems: How to promote health in times of austerity?’’ The debate, hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), brought together for the first time more than 20 speakers from all across Europe health professions, experts and civil society along with several institutional actors and an audience of around 200 people in an exercise aimed at assessing the impact of the current downturn in the continent’s health systems and identifying actions to move forward.

One of the key cautionary messages on which most speakers agreed was that Europe is facing a humanitarian crisis. There was a widely-shared feeling in the room that the long-standing economic and financial crisis is exacerbating vast inequalities, with the poor being the first and worst-hit victims.

Read EPHA’s full press release here: www.epha.org/a/5200

Originally posted on 20 June 2012