Europe’s public health experts and practitioners gathered in Brussels at the annual conference of the European Public Health Alliance, to plan for a healthier future as MEPs plotted in Strasbourg on how to delay the Tobacco Products Directive.
Perhaps there was a subliminal reminder of this central piece of legislation as the introduction was given by Tonio Borg, Health commissioner, who passed on his high hopes for the directive.
There were other issues as public health, like so much else, has been affected by austerity, with spending cuts hitting budgets and a rise in unemployment being two of the most noticeable aspects. It was noted during the meeting that research shows that unemployment doubles the risk of illness and 60% have a lower chance of recovery.
It was also shown that some of the unemployed pay a very high cost for austerity policies as suicide rates in Greece and Latvia have increased by 17%, in Ireland by 15%.
Yves Leterme, former Belgian premier, is now Deputy Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He spoke about the importance of health, responsible for up to 10% of a nation’s GDP. He noted that there were some lobbyists, “pedlars in death,” in Brussels that were promoting their industry’s interests “over the public’s health.”
When challenged about the influence of lobbyists and the ‘temptations’ they can offer to politicians, Leterme defended politicians, saying that they liked to offer good news to the electorate, who often wanted expensive policies and lower taxes, a pleasant but impractical partnership.
Leterme was positive on the economy, albeit gently, “We are seeing the first small signs that the worst of the crisis is passing.” He cautioned that “unemployment will remain at a horrifying level” for many years and that higher poverty levels were challenging the European welfare state model.
His advice was to “do more with less” as budgets will be limited for years to come. He also argued for spending more on prevention and pointed out how this can save very large amounts of money in the future.
The economic case for spending on health was made repeatedly, not least that adding 10% to the price of a packet of cigarettes results in 1.8 million fewer deaths from smoking related illnesses.
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