Health Equity 2020

The general objective of HEALTH EQUITY 2020 is to assist Member States (MS) to develop evidence-based action plans on reducing health inequalities.
Problem analysis including evidence base
Socioeconomic disadvantage is strongly associated with indicators of ill health in all EU MS with available data. These also translate into a health disadvantage of socioeconomically marginalised regions within the European Union (EU). The main goal is not only about safeguarding human rights, it also has a strong economic rationale. Worse health among those with lower socioeconomic status leads to labour productivity losses, increased demands for health care, & higher uptake of social security benefits. A recent European study estimated that health inequalities-related losses to labour productivity amount to €141 billion per year in the EU.
If health is valued in its own right, health inequalities-related losses amount to a staggering €1 trillion per year (9.4% of GDP) (Mackenbach, Meerding & Kunst, 2007).
Structural Funds (SF) offer a window of opportunity to secure funding for or affect the impacts of large-scale actions. To be effective, action plans need to be evidence-based if available and include social innovations where evidence is limited.
General objective of project
The general objective of HEALTH EQUITY 2020 is to assist Member States (MS) to develop evidence-based action plans on reducing health inequalities, which would also inform structural funds (SF) activities in the next programming period. Project findings will be used to inform (i) region-specific action plans (ii) negotiations for the 2014-2020 SF period including finalization & implementation of new Strategic Guidelines & priorities for thematic/regional operational programs in the EU10 (iii) mid-term review of EU10 national reform programs (2014).
Specific objectives
- To develop and test a toolkit to support the process of evidence-based action planning in participating regions.
- To develop an accessible and interactive online website and database as a resource for use by participating regions.
- To build capacity & competency in participating MS/regions, which respect their different starting points.
- To support participating regions to develop & adopt action plans on health inequalities that also informs their use of Structural Funds in the next period.
- To maximise information exchange and sharing of good practice between member states and regions.
- To ensure sustainability and longer-term benefits of the project.
The regional perspective
The HealthEquity-2020 project (HE2020) takes a regional perspective in addressing the fundamental principles of Together for Health and the goals of Solidarity in Health. The potential for regional policy to help improve the population's health should be maximized.
Project partners:
Lead Partner: University of Maastricht, Department of International Health
Medical University of Lodz
Centre for Health and Development Murska Sobota
Rezultati projekta HE 2020
One of the most important results of the project is Toolkit; a tool that leads us step by step to identify socio-economic inequalities in health in our environment and how to use it.