The European Commission has published Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) as part of the European Semester process, providing policy guidance to all EU Member States in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of interest to the work of Alzheimer Europe and its members, the CSRs in this round of the Semester cover areas such as investing in public health and the resilience of the health sector, in addition to covering areas such as employment, support for small and medium enterprises, and focus on digital and green transitions.
The CSRs reflect the need for countries to strengthen the resilience of national health systems, including their ability to deal with crisis situations, as well as implementing longer-term structural changes needed for future sustainability. It is further noted that existing challenges around resilience, accessibility and efficiency of health systems have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the working conditions of clinicians, shortages of health workers, out-of-pocket payments and high levels of unmet medical care needs, were further issues identified by the CSRs. The full recommendations can be found on the European Commission website:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_901
