Special issue on healthcare: Healthy ageing and the future of public healthcare systems

Description:
This paper exploits how the topic of healthy ageing and the future of public healthcare systems’ features in most recent exercises and prospective studies around the world focusing on the most important emerging challenges for the future.

How to cite:

Braun A, Rijkers-Defrasne S, Zweck A, Butter M, Dumay A, Leis M. Special issue on healthcare: Healthy ageing and the future of public healthcare systems. Brussels: European Commission; 2009.

The EFMN Issue Analysis aims at identifying and analysing ‘key emerging issues’ which are relevant for European future (S&T) policies. With a focus on public health systems, the EFMN Issue Analysis 2008 addressed a topic which has been without doubt of high importance in foresight activities at national or regional level for a long time. However, future trends and challenges – such as ageing, increasing mobility, increasing globalisation of R&D and innovation activities in the health sector, the labour market becoming increasingly global, EU enlargement, etc. – which call for reforms of public health systems go beyond national borders. This makes it necessary, first, to address the European dimension of the issue of public health systems, and second, to explore the means for European action to contribute to overcoming future challenges.

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