In May 2022, the European Commission announced the re-launch of the EU’s strategy on global health. On 30 November 2022, the European Commission adopted its communication on the new EU global health strategy (GHS).
This document presents an update of the approach proposed in 2010 on the EU role in global health and tailored by corresponding Council conclusions.
Moreover, the strategy takes into account the lessons learnt from the pandemic and guides EU action in an evolving landscape of threats and opportunities, including towards reasserting responsibility for attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).
It consists in a recalibration of the EU’s approach to the global health, by considering it as an essential pillar of EU external policy, a critical geopolitical sector and a central aspect of EU strategic autonomy.
The new EU global health strategy suggests a framework leading up to 2030 and focusing on three policy priorities:
- Better health throughout life;
- Strengthened health systems and universal health coverage;
- Action to prevent and combat health threats.
These policy priorities correspond to the WHO triple billion targets: universal health coverage, health emergencies protection and healthier populations.
The strategy comprises 20 guiding principles and concrete lines of action, and establishes a new monitoring framework.
As stated by the Commissioner Stella Kyriakides during the EU Global Health Strategy presentation on November 2022: “This means we must be ready to tackle the next crisis united and together.”
The purpose of this new strategy is to improve the healthcare systems and the healthcare professionals in order to be ready for facing current and future health crisis. In this context, the role of nurses is essential as demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the majority of the healthcare professionals, nurses’ contribution is fundamental for reaching this ambitious goal – giving them the right instruments and knowledge, means better care for patients and a stronger healthcare ecosystem!