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How could the European Health Union help the Hungarian healthcare to catch-up?

Author: Mihály Kökény, Orsolya Süli, Újhelyi István

• Health
• care

The COVID-19 pandemic facilitated a long-expected paradigm shift in the European Union’s perception of health and healthcare. It has been proved that health policy decisions cannot be kept within a nation-state framework only and that a new vision and strengthened community competencies are needed to cope with public health crises. At the pioneering initiative of the S&D Group, the European Parliament, the Commission and the European Council adopted the concept and the first measures of the European Health Union, including the strengthening of the European Centre of Disease Control and the European Medicines Agency, the development of a new cancer control program and the elaboration of quality standards for health care.

Creating a European Health Union can also contribute to catching up of the ailing Hungarian healthcare. Therefore, it seemed worthwhile to examine the opinion of the Hungarian population, professional organizations and local governments on this project.  

This research by Ujhelyi, Kökény & Süli shows that the vast majority of Hungarian society supports the idea of the European Health Union and the planned measures, while a lot is expected of it by the organizations of health professionals and the local governments, especially in terms of unifying quality expectations and access to care. The establishment of service and quality minimums in the concept of the European Health Union can be a major step forward. 

Read the Policy Study

ℹ️ The policy brief Attitudes towards the European Health Union: the case of Hungary was also published as part of this research project.