Established by the Regulation (EU) 2021/522, the EU4Health provides the means and the instruments for delivering on the EU Health policy. Four general objectives represent the breath and the ambitions of the programme:
- Improve & foster health in the Union;
- Protect people from serious cross-border health threats;
- Improve access to medicinal products, medical devices, crisis-relevant products;
- Strengthen health systems, their resilience and resource efficiency.
Ten specific objectives identify key areas of intervention under the above four general objectives.
Technical support provided
The Programme supports, amongst others, “joint actions” which are direct grants consisting in collaborative action among Member States and associated countries to the Programme to for example develop, share, refine and/or test tools, methods and approaches to specific health issues and engage in capacity building in key areas of interest.
Conferences, trainings, and studies can also be supported by the Programme.
Phase of technical support
The Programme is implemented by annual work programmes. Technical support can be included in any of the annual work programmes.
Beneficiaries
The Programme provides funding to eligible legal entities from Member States, third countries associated to it, or listed in the annual work programme and created under Union law or to international organisations such as health organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector and other eligible legal entities.
Examples of technical support projects
Considering that the EU4Health is a new Programme and given the lead time for the signature of grant agreements and for procurement actions, only few actions have been launched so far. However, several joint actions aiming to transfer a number of best practices to support Member States in raising their health system’s capacity are in a preparatory phase. A training package focusing on improving digital health skills for health workforce is also in preparation.