The WHO Barcelona Office for Health Systems Financing invites you to a webinar on 19 March 2025 at 10:00–11:30 Central European Time. Bringing together a mix of international and country experts, this online event will explore the interplay between population ageing, health system financial sustainability and financial protection – with the aim of ensuring affordable access to health care for all. The event is supported by the EU4Health programme managed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety.
Context
By 2040, more than 1 in 4 people in the European Union (EU) will be aged 65 years or over. As populations age, concerns about the financial sustainability of health systems are growing. However, there is little understanding of how health financing gaps may impact financial protection and progress towards universal health coverage.
Research shows that ageing-related health financing challenges are often overstated and are manageable with the right policy choices. Yet if countries are unable to raise sufficient public revenue to meet health needs (i.e. through taxes and social contributions), people will either forego care and experience unmet need or pay more out of pocket, leading to an increase in catastrophic and impoverishing health spending.
What to expect
- Simulating the impact of ageing-related health financing gaps from now to 2060. Experts will present findings from a simulation exercise using the Population Ageing financial Sustainability gap for Health systems (PASH) Simulator and data on catastrophic and impoverishing health spending to assess the likely impact of population ageing on affordable access to health care.
- Country evidence. The webinar will present results for 5 EU countries with distinct health financing contexts: Bulgaria, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
- Policy implications. Discussions will focus on how broad public revenue bases and strong coverage policies can protect households from financial hardship and unmet need.
- Expert panel discussion. Country experts will share their experience of sustaining progress towards universal health coverage in the face of tight fiscal constraints.
Speakers
- Dirk van den Steen, Deputy Head of Unit, State of Health, European Semester, Health Technology Assessment, European Commission, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety
- Jon Cylus, Senior Health Economist, WHO Barcelona Office
- Tamás Evetovits, Head, WHO Barcelona Office
- Sarah Thomson, Senior Health Financing Specialist, WHO Barcelona Office
- Joe Kutzin, R4D fellow
- Maris Jesse, health systems consultant, Estonia
- Yann-Gael Amghar, Head of the Social Department, Prime Minister's Office, former director of the Central Agency for Social Security, France
Who should attend?
The webinar is focused on policy-makers, health financing experts and researchers – but anyone interested in the future of health system financial sustainability is invited to attend. Follow the link to register and take part in this discussion.
About WHO/Europe’s work on affordable access to health care (financial protection)
WHO/Europe monitors financial protection through the WHO Barcelona Office using regional indicators that are sensitive to equity. The WHO Barcelona Office provides tailored technical assistance to countries to reduce financial hardship and unmet need by identifying and addressing gaps in health coverage. This work benefits from financial assistance from the EU through the EU4Health programme managed by the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, and a project to strengthen health systems resilience in the western Balkans managed by the Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood. Explore our data and analysis on “UHC watch” – a digital platform tracking progress on affordable access to health care in Europe and central Asia.