EU funds for healthcare and innovation

The EU created 3 essential policies and supporting funding tools to support its objective to guarantee growth and jobs by making the EU become the "most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world", as formulated in the Lisbon Agenda in 2000:

• The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme
• The Research Framework Programme
• Cohesion policy

The Eu strategy heavily relies on innovation, technical development and research to ensure EU's economic leadership. The Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, with a total investment of €3.6 billion and the 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7), with an amount of €50 billion are meant as a contribution accompanying this effort by stimulating transnational research and entrepreneurship across the EU. The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a joint undertaking between EFPIA and the European Commission is financed under FP7.

The cohesion policy is another essential part of the EU strategy. It is contributing to Lisbon Agenda objectives of growth and jobs through the reduction of economic and social disparities between EU regions. Investments are made in infrastructures, innovative capacity and human capital. This policy is financed by the structural and cohesions funds, amounting to circa 1/3 of the EU budget, circa €347 billion of the 7 years of the current EU financial period (2007-2013).

Health is one of the area eligible for structural funds and is particularly important for countries and regions where healthcare is severely under financed from public budgets, a deficit wich is reflected in poor healthcare indicators. In the area of health, Structural funds can contribute to a range of initiatives:

• Building/rebuilding primary care infrastructure and organising primary care;
• Modernisation of healthcare provision (e-health) and healthcare management;
• Creation of centres and networks of excellence.

Using Structural Funding investment in healthcare will contribute developing more stable health systems of higher quality, which will deliver better healthcare outcomes for the patients. This in turn will improve the quality of life for citizens themselves and offer more predictable operating conditions for public and private providers.