Experience from the COVID-19 crisis has indicated that there is a general need for the support to structural transformation of and systemic reforms of health systems across the Union to improve their effectiveness, accessibility and resilience. In the context of such transformation and reforms, the Programme should promote, in synergy with the Digital Europe Programme, actions which advance digital transformation of health services and increase their interoperability, contribute to the increased capacity of health systems to foster disease prevention and health promotion, to provide new care models and to deliver integrated services, from the community and primary health care to the highly specialised services, based on people’s needs and ensure an efficient public health workforce equipped with the right skills, including digital skills. The development of a European health data space would provide health care systems, researchers and public authorities with means to improve the availability and quality of healthcare. Given the fundamental right to access to preventive healthcare and medical treatment enshrined in Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and in view to the common values and principles in European Union Health Systems as set out in the Council Conclusions of 2 June 2006 (12) the Programme should support actions ensuring the universality and inclusivity of health care, meaning that no-one is barred access to health care, and those ensuring that patients’ rights, including on the privacy of their data, are duly respected.

Experience from the COVID-19 crisis has indicated that there is a general need for the support to structural transformation of and systemic reforms of health systems across the Union to improve their effectiveness, accessibility and resilience. These reforms, in the context of a revamped European Semester, need to strengthen the specific features of European health systems based on strong public services and substantial public investment. Health services are services of general interest intended to strengthen the European Pillar of Social Rights, which cannot be made subject to private-sector thinking. In the context of such transformation and reforms, the Programme should, taking into consideration how the Member States organise their health systems, organise the coordination and funding of stress tests in the Member States in order to identify weaknesses and to assess their ability to respond to pandemics. The programme should furthermore promote, in synergy with the Digital Europe Programme, actions which advance digital transformation of health services and increase their interoperability, contribute to the increased capacity of health systems to foster disease prevention and health promotion, to provide new care models and to deliver integrated services, from the community and primary health care to the highly specialised services, based on people’s needs and ensure an efficient public health workforce equipped with the right skills, including digital skills. The development of a European health data space would provide health care systems, researchers and public authorities with means to improve the availability and quality of healthcare. Given the fundamental right to access to preventive healthcare and medical treatment enshrined in Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and in view to the common values and principles in European Union Health Systems as set out in the Council Conclusions of 2 June 2006 (12) the Programme should support actions ensuring the universality and inclusivity of health care, meaning that no-one is barred access to health care, and those ensuring that patients’ rights, including on the privacy of their data, are duly respected.