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Funding for public health in Europe in decline?

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  • 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
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    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
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    Cited by:

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    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).
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    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.

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