Early Health benefits and obstacles revealed by EU study

A survey of senior health care policy makers and advisors across the European Union's member states, announced at GE Healthcare's media summit in Berlin, Germany, shows widespread support for an increase in early health initiatives such as prevention, screening and early diagnosis, but not at the expense of current health care budgets allocated for treatment.

The qualitative research carried out this August by Total Healthcare Solutions on behalf of GE Healthcare provides a snapshot view of current opinions of 15 health care policy makers and advisors across the European Union, including new accession countries (the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Latvia). It also identifies investment opportunities and challenges for Early Health.

The findings indicate a general consensus that Early Health initiatives should increase as part of a long-term plan to reduce the cost burden of treating disease in an aging population, and in order to reduce suffering from chronic disease. However, a range of barriers and challenges that limit the willingness of governments to invest in Early Health programs were also identified by the study's authors.