Democracy and health at the crossroads of Europe's future

Organised by the European Health Forum Gastein

2024 marks the biggest election year so far in human history, with over 50% of the global population called to the polls. As election results have already shown, populist and autocratic ideas are on the rise, fuelled by a crisis of trust and a creeping disillusionment with the status quo amongst voters: a failure to deliver on promises of addressing key issues from the climate crisis to inequality, conflict, migration, and secure employment. When it comes to health and healthcare systems, democratic institutions and actors often seem to be sleepwalking rather than offering innovative solutions to the critical challenges of overstretched systems and health workforce attrition. And in the meantime, health is being hijacked by commercial interests that prioritise the profits of a few over the health and well-being of many. This plenary will examine different facets of the relationship between democracy and health, exploring why there is growing mistrust in our political institutions vis a vis health systems, and what can be done to restore the balance.

SPEAKERS

WELCOME
Clemens Martin Auer, President, European Health Forum Gastein

PANEL DISCUSSION
Denis Kordež, State Secretary, Ministry of Health Slovenia
Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Director, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Gloria Ghéquière, Adviser Belgian Council Presidency, Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister, Belgian Federal Government
Scott Greer, Professor of Global Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, USA
Nason Maani, Lecturer in Inequalities and Global Health Policy, University of Edinburgh
András Tivadar Kulja, Member, European Parliament

VIDEO INPUT
Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe, World Health Organization

MODERATOR
Ilona Kickbusch, Founding Director and Chair of the Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies Geneva