IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v123y2019i1p21-26.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Funding for public health in Europe in decline?

Author

Listed:
  • Rechel, Bernd

Abstract

Concerns have been raised in recent years in several European countries over cutbacks to funding for public health. This article explores how widespread the problem is, bringing together available information on funding for public health in Europe and the effects of the economic crisis. It is based on a review of academic and grey literature and of available databases, detailed case studies of nine European countries (England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Poland, and the Republic of Moldova) and in-depth interviews. The findings highlight difficulties in establishing accurate estimates of spending on public health, but also point to cutbacks in many countries and an overall declining share of health expenditure going to public health. Public health seems to have been particularly vulnerable to funding cuts. However, the decline is not inevitable and there are examples of countries that have chosen to retain or increase their investment in public health.

Suggested Citation

  • Rechel, Bernd, 2019. "Funding for public health in Europe in decline?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 21-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:123:y:2019:i:1:p:21-26
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.11.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851018306596
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.11.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rechel, Boika & Suhrcke, Marc & Tsolova, Svetla & Suk, Jonathan E. & Desai, Monica & McKee, Martin & Stuckler, David & Abubakar, Ibrahim & Hunter, Paul & Senek, Michaela & Semenza, Jan C., 2011. "Economic crisis and communicable disease control in Europe: A scoping study among national experts," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 168-175.
    2. Ifanti, Amalia A. & Argyriou, Andreas A. & Kalofonou, Foteini H. & Kalofonos, Haralabos P., 2013. "Financial crisis and austerity measures in Greece: Their impact on health promotion policies and public health care," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 8-12.
    3. Himmelstein, D.U. & Woolhandler, S., 2016. "Public health's falling share of US health spending," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(1), pages 56-57.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Signorelli, C. & Odone, A. & Oradini-Alacreu, A. & Pelissero, G., 2020. "Universal Health Coverage in Italy: lights and shades of the Italian National Health Service which celebrated its 40th anniversary," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 69-74.
    2. Åhlin, Philip & Almström, Peter & Wänström, Carl, 2022. "When patients get stuck: A systematic literature review on throughput barriers in hospital-wide patient processes," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 87-98.
    3. Jacques, Olivier & Noël, Alain, 2022. "The politics of public health investments," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    4. Tomasz Rokicki & Aleksandra Perkowska & Marcin Ratajczak, 2020. "Differentiation in Healthcare Financing in EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Drydakis, Nick, 2023. "Health Inequalities among People Experiencing Food Insecurity. An Intersectional Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 16677, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Ammi, Mehdi & Arpin, Emmanuelle & Dedewanou, F. Antoine & Allin, Sara, 2024. "Do expenditures on public health reduce preventable mortality in the long run? Evidence from the Canadian provinces," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    7. Ammi, Mehdi & Arpin, Emmanuelle & Allin, Sara, 2021. "Interpreting forty-three-year trends of expenditures on public health in Canada: Long-run trends, temporal periods, and data differences," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(12), pages 1557-1564.
    8. Olivier Jacques & Alain Noel, 2022. "Austerity Reduces Public Health Investment," CIRANO Working Papers 2022s-02, CIRANO.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tomasz Rokicki & Aleksandra Perkowska & Marcin Ratajczak, 2020. "Differentiation in Healthcare Financing in EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Suijkerbuijk, Anita W.M. & Over, Eelco A.B. & van Aar, Fleur & Götz, Hannelore M. & van Benthem, Birgit H.B. & Lugnér, Anna K., 2018. "Consequences of restricted STI testing for young heterosexuals in the Netherlands on test costs and QALY losses," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 198-203.
    3. Henrik Brønnum-Hansen & Mikkel Baadsgaard & Mette Eriksen & Karen Andersen-Ranberg & Bernard Jeune, 2015. "Educational inequalities in health expectancy during the financial crisis in Denmark," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(8), pages 927-935, December.
    4. Vijay S. Limaye, 2021. "Making the climate crisis personal through a focus on human health," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 1-11, June.
    5. Beatriz Rodríguez-Sánchez & Luz María Peña-Longobardo & Juan Oliva-Moreno, 2022. "The employment situation of people living with HIV: a closer look at the effects of the 2008 economic crisis," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(3), pages 485-497, April.
    6. Dorn, Florian & Lange, Berit & Braml, Martin & Gstrein, David & Nyirenda, John L.Z. & Vanella, Patrizio & Winter, Joachim & Fuest, Clemens & Krause, Gérard, 2023. "The challenge of estimating the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 interventions – Toward an integrated economic and epidemiological approach," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    7. Vova-Chatzi, C. & Symvoulakis, E. & Parpoula, C. & Sbarouni, V. & Lionis, C., 2020. "Robustness of the EUROPEP questionnaire as regards data quality, reliability, and construct validity: The Greek experience before and after the economic crisis," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(8), pages 856-864.
    8. Anastasia PANORI & Yannis PSYCHARIS, 2018. "The impact of the economic crisis on poverty and welfare in Athens," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 48, pages 23-40.
    9. Salma M. Abdalla & Nason Maani & Catherine K. Ettman & Sandro Galea, 2020. "Claiming Health as a Public Good in the Post-COVID-19 Era," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 63(2), pages 200-204, December.
    10. Grigorakis, Nikolaos & Floros, Christos & Tsangari, Haritini & Tsoukatos, Evangelos, 2016. "Out of pocket payments and social health insurance for private hospital care: Evidence from Greece," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(8), pages 948-959.
    11. Robert J. Kolesar & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Effect of Austerity Measures on Infant Mortality: Evidence from Greece," Papers 2407.17084, arXiv.org.
    12. Hao Dong & Zhenghui Li & Pierre Failler, 2020. "The Impact of Business Cycle on Health Financing: Subsidized, Voluntary and Out-of-Pocket Health Spending," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-24, March.
    13. Albertos Azaria & George Karavasilis & Evangelos Kehris & Vasiliki Vrana, 2019. "The Impact of Financial Crisis on University Students in Greece," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 17(2), pages 193-219.
    14. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Matteo Mazzarano & Andrea Pronti & Marco Quatrosi, 2020. "Fiscal policies, public investments and wellbeing: mapping the evolution of the EU," Insights into Regional Development, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 2(4), pages 725-749, December.
    15. George Loukopoulos & Theodoros Roupas, 2014. "Financial Analysis of the Greek Private Health Sector over the Last Decade (2002-2012)," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 3-19.
    16. Jan Koetsenruijter & Jan van Lieshout & Christos Lionis & Maria Carmen Portillo & Ivo Vassilev & Elka Todorova & Christina Foss & Manuel Serrano Gil & Ingrid Ruud Knutsen & Agapi Angelaki & Agurtzane , 2015. "Social Support and Health in Diabetes Patients: An Observational Study in Six European Countries in an Era of Austerity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-12, August.
    17. Julie M. Carter & Patricia D. Koman & Lorraine Cameron & Aaron Ferguson & Patrick Jacuzzo & Jason Duvall, 2021. "Assessing perceptions and priorities for health impacts of climate change within local Michigan health departments," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 11(4), pages 595-609, December.
    18. Kyriopoulos, Ilias & Nikoloski, Zlatko & Mossialos, Elias, 2021. "Financial protection in health among the middle-aged and elderly: Evidence from the Greek economic recession," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(9), pages 1256-1266.
    19. Inácio, Pedro & Gomes, João José & Airaksinen, Marja & Cavaco, Afonso, 2018. "Exploring sociodemographic and economic factors that promote adverse drug reactions reporting by patients," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 263-268.
    20. George Fragkiadakis & Michael Doumpos & Constantin Zopounidis & Christophe Germain, 2016. "Operational and economic efficiency analysis of public hospitals in Greece," Post-Print hal-01414677, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:123:y:2019:i:1:p:21-26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.