Haapaniemi NDPHS Speech ENG

THE 21st BALTIC SEA PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE26-28 August 2012, St. Petersburg, RussiaThe importance of health and social well-being for the prosperity and sustainable economic development of our regionSpeech by Ms. Eeva-Liisa Haapaniemi, Consul, Social Affairs and Health, Consulate General of Finland to St Petersburg, on behalf of the Chair of the Committee of Senior Representatives of the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-beingMadam Chair,Ladies and Gentlemen,It is a privilege and an honor for me to address you on behalf of the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being. I would like to thank you for including health and social affairs among the themes of the Conference. I highly appreciate the opportunity to share with you some thoughts about the importance of health and social well-being for the prosperity and sustainable economic development of our region.I do not need to remind you about the economic crisis - financial issues are constantly on the top of the global and national political agendas. Many countries have been forced to respond to it with severe cuts in expenditure, including on health and social care. At the regional level, health and social issues are often put aside or sub-prioritized when strategic priorities, including priorities for funding programmes, are discussed. It is not an overstatement to say that this approach can cause serious damage to our societies in the long term and can seriously hamper our potential for growth in the coming decades. Let me illustrate this with concrete examples.Even though some people are unaware of this, issues such as ageing society, growing burden of non-communicable diseases and antimicrobial resistance are among the biggest social and economic challenges of the 21st century. It is estimated that the growing proportion of older people in Europe will increase the public spending by 5% of the GDP during next 50 years due to a higher share of retired people and a higher number of people with chronic non-communicable diseases. It is more important than ever to promote healthy ageing as well as efficiency and quality of health and social care services. The demand for health care is rising and will continue rising faster than the number of doctors, meaning that modern technologies are needed to fill in the gaps in the labour force. We need to urgently invest in finding innovative approaches to health care, such as telemedicine.The raising burden of non-communicable diseases is another pressing issue that I would like to mention. The World Economic Forum has identified non-communicable diseases as the second most severe threat to the global economy in terms of likelihood and potential economic loss. It is widely known that main risk factors of non-communicable diseases are preventable – namely, tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, low physical activity and unhealthy diets. Regrettably, only a small proportion of health expenditure is spent on prevention. At the same time, at least 66 billion EUR are lost every year in the Baltic Sea Region countries due to premature loss of life of preventable causes.One more example that I would like to mention is the problem of antimicrobial resistance. The discovery of antibiotics was a revolution in modern medicine, which significantly reduced the mortality from bacterial diseases. Unfortunately, a number of factors have led to the emergence of resistant bacteria. The situation is very serious and lack of effective microbial agents in the future is a possible scenario. As a result, the treatment of many medical conditions is becoming more expensive, less effective or even impossible. A number of actions are required, including investment in research of new effective antimicrobial agents.New challenges require adaptation: we cannot sustain the current level of health and social care if we keep using old strategies to address new problems. We are increasingly obliged to find new solutions to new problems. This requires creativity, cooperation, political will and financial investment. It requires turning words into urgent action.Transnational cooperation in addressing these challenges brings added value. It is important to pool the resources and expertise and exchange ideas and knowledge on effective and less effective solutions. This helps bridge gaps and speed up innovation processes, avoid duplication of efforts and resources and allows for a well-informed policy and decision making. As a result, we are not scattering resources on a fragmented approach and duplication of efforts in addressing shared challenges that we are all facing. Parliaments can play a very important role in fostering such cooperation. I know that Mr. Vējonis, who will be the next speaker, has some truly inspiring examples to share with us on this score.Ladies and Gentlemen,Investment in health is not only about containing costs. Health and social well-being have broader implications for the economy. Sufficient labour supply, high labour productivity and a highly qualified workforce are the key elements of economic growth. Health and social well-being are of direct relevance to all of these. Individuals enjoying good health and favourable social background are better fit to acquire the necessary skills; to enter the labour market and to work longer or at least not retire prematurely due to their declining or poor health condition or other social factors.When it comes to labour productivity, healthy individuals are more efficient and adaptable to change and persons with favourable social background are more likely to pursue lifelong learning. On the other hand, poor health inevitably leads to a lower productivity at work.With the list of arguments that I have just presented, one would expect to see health and social well-being explicitly recognised at the core of any growth strategy. Yet, this is not the case. For example, only a few European funding programmes currently operating in the Northern Dimension area have included health among their priorities. As a result, health-related activities receive considerably less funding compared to other, more visible sectors.Your voice counts when it comes to making health and social issues one of priority criteria when national budgets are being decided on and priorities of regional funding programmes are being set. The NDPHS hopes for your strong support in making health and social well-being an important issue on the national and regional agendas and, thereby, in ensuring that public money is directed to areas that are truly indispensable for our societies’ good health as well as the long-term, sustainable growth.You can make a major difference by ensuring that the importance of health is not only recognised, but also implemented in a horizontal manner, ensuring a health-in-all-policies approach. The area of health is a typical example where sectors such as finance, education, agriculture and food industry have an equally important role. Yet, the health sector cannot set their agendas. Therefore, the integration of health issues in other policies is an area where your assistance is vital and necessary.Ladies and Gentlemen,Surveys indicate that people place health among the top priorities in their life. This is an indication to all of us where the priorities of our work should lie both at the regional and at the national level. Our Partnership works to address it and we count on your strong support.Thank you for your attention.