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Photo: Horst Ossinger / dpa
The EU Parliament has given the go-ahead for an increase in funds for health expenditure in the new EU budget until 2027.
The majority of MEPs voted for the EU4Health program, for which a budget of 5.1 billion euros has been earmarked.
This means that EU spending on the health sector has increased many times over in comparison to the previous budget period.
The design of their health systems is a national responsibility of the EU countries.
Brussels has only limited powers.
The corona pandemic, however, "revealed many weaknesses in the national health systems," said Parliament.
One problem is the dependence on non-EU countries for deliveries of medicines, medical devices and personal protective equipment.
EU4Health is now aiming, for example, at building up reserves of medical goods.
In addition, the EU should be able to react better to “cross-border health threats” and “meet long-term challenges such as the aging population and health inequalities”.
20 percent of the funds are earmarked for prevention campaigns against alcohol abuse and tobacco consumption, for example.
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