Europe's national public health systems have developed in very different ways, producing greater regional variation in clinical practice and in the financing and administration of healthcare than there is in patterns of disease. By bridging these cultural differences, Community research is contributing to the health of Europe's economy as well as to that of its people.
ealth is a concern shared across Europe, and few major threats to it are confined within national borders. The fragmentation of Europe's healthcare policies and systems places it at a disadvantage, both socially and economically. The multiplicity of markets and regulatory environments increases the cost of developing new medical drugs, devices and information technologies, and limits the returns on such investment. The lack of standard methods for handling medical data inhibits understanding of the underlying causes of ill-health, and denies European citizens equal access to the best available care.
Added value
Scientific and technological research is one of the principal ways in which the EU contributes to public health (see box), supporting the co-ordination of national initiatives and the exchange of experience between them, helping to achieve economies of scale in the development of new technologies, and promoting the standardisation needed to facilitate the exchange of health data.
By encouraging the pooling of Europe's scientific resources, and the accelerated adoption of best practices and best technologies, EU research not only helps to maintain Europe's position at the forefront of medical knowledge.
It also facilitates its conversion into practical solutions to urgent problems, and the realisation of its potential benefits to the European economy and to the health of Europe's citizens.
July 1999
EUROPEAN HEALTHCARE RESEARCH
ealth is a concern shared across Europe, and few major threats to it are confined within national borders. The fragmentation of Europe's healthcare policies and systems places it at a disadvantage, both socially and economically. The multiplicity of markets and regulatory environments increases the cost of developing new medical drugs, devices and information technologies, and limits the returns on such investment. The lack of standard methods for handling medical data inhibits understanding of the underlying causes of ill-health, and denies European citizens equal access to the best available care.
