Download THE 21st BALTIC SEA PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE 26

THE 21st BALTIC SEA PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE
26-28 August 2012, St. Petersburg, Russia
The importance of health and social well-being for the
prosperity and sustainable economic development of
our region
Speech by Ms. Eeva-Liisa Haapaniemi, Consul, Social Affairs and Health,
Consulate General of Finland to St Petersburg, on behalf of the Chair of the
Committee of Senior Representatives of the Northern Dimension Partnership in
Public Health and Social Well-being
Madam Chair,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a privilege and an honor for me to address you on behalf of the Northern Dimension
Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being. I would like to thank you for including
health and social affairs among the themes of the Conference. I highly appreciate the
opportunity to share with you some thoughts about the importance of health and social
well-being for the prosperity and sustainable economic development of our region.
I do not need to remind you about the economic crisis - financial issues are constantly on the
top of the global and national political agendas. Many countries have been forced to respond
to it with severe cuts in expenditure, including on health and social care. At the regional level,
health and social issues are often put aside or sub-prioritized when strategic priorities,
including priorities for funding programmes, are discussed. It is not an overstatement to say
that this approach can cause serious damage to our societies in the long term and can
seriously hamper our potential for growth in the coming decades. Let me illustrate this with
concrete examples.
Even though some people are unaware of this, issues such as ageing society, growing
burden of non-communicable diseases and antimicrobial resistance are among the
biggest social and economic challenges of the 21st century. It is estimated that the
growing proportion of older people in Europe will increase the public spending by 5% of the
GDP during next 50 years due to a higher share of retired people and a higher number of
people with chronic non-communicable diseases. It is more important than ever to promote
healthy ageing as well as efficiency and quality of health and social care services. The
demand for health care is rising and will continue rising faster than the number of doctors,
meaning that modern technologies are needed to fill in the gaps in the labour force. We need
to urgently invest in finding innovative approaches to health care, such as telemedicine.
The raising burden of non-communicable diseases is another pressing issue that I would like
to mention. The World Economic Forum has identified non-communicable diseases as the
second most severe threat to the global economy in terms of likelihood and potential
economic loss. It is widely known that main risk factors of non-communicable diseases are
preventable – namely, tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, low physical activity and
unhealthy diets. Regrettably, only a small proportion of health expenditure is spent on
prevention. At the same time, at least 66 billion EUR are lost every year in the Baltic Sea
Region countries due to premature loss of life of preventable causes.
One more example that I would like to mention is the problem of antimicrobial resistance.
The discovery of antibiotics was a revolution in modern medicine, which significantly reduced
the mortality from bacterial diseases. Unfortunately, a number of factors have led to the
emergence of resistant bacteria. The situation is very serious and lack of effective microbial
agents in the future is a possible scenario. As a result, the treatment of many medical
conditions is becoming more expensive, less effective or even impossible. A number of
actions are required, including investment in research of new effective antimicrobial agents.
New challenges require adaptation: we cannot sustain the current level of health and social
care if we keep using old strategies to address new problems. We are increasingly obliged
to find new solutions to new problems. This requires creativity, cooperation, political
will and financial investment. It requires turning words into urgent action.
Transnational cooperation in addressing these challenges brings added value. It is important
to pool the resources and expertise and exchange ideas and knowledge on effective and
less effective solutions. This helps bridge gaps and speed up innovation processes, avoid
duplication of efforts and resources and allows for a well-informed policy and decision
making. As a result, we are not scattering resources on a fragmented approach and
duplication of efforts in addressing shared challenges that we are all facing. Parliaments can
play a very important role in fostering such cooperation. I know that Mr. Vējonis, who will be
the next speaker, has some truly inspiring examples to share with us on this score.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Investment in health is not only about containing costs. Health and social well-being
have broader implications for the economy. Sufficient labour supply, high labour productivity
and a highly qualified workforce are the key elements of economic growth. Health and
social well-being are of direct relevance to all of these. Individuals enjoying good health and
favourable social background are better fit to acquire the necessary skills; to enter the labour
market and to work longer or at least not retire prematurely due to their declining or poor
health condition or other social factors.
When it comes to labour productivity, healthy individuals are more efficient and adaptable to
change and persons with favourable social background are more likely to pursue lifelong
learning. On the other hand, poor health inevitably leads to a lower productivity at work.
With the list of arguments that I have just presented, one would expect to see health and
social well-being explicitly recognised at the core of any growth strategy. Yet, this is
not the case. For example, only a few European funding programmes currently operating in
the Northern Dimension area have included health among their priorities. As a result, healthrelated activities receive considerably less funding compared to other, more visible sectors.
Your voice counts when it comes to making health and social issues one of priority criteria
when national budgets are being decided on and priorities of regional funding programmes
are being set. The NDPHS hopes for your strong support in making health and social wellbeing an important issue on the national and regional agendas and, thereby, in ensuring
that public money is directed to areas that are truly indispensable for our societies’ good
health as well as the long-term, sustainable growth.
You can make a major difference by ensuring that the importance of health is not only
recognised, but also implemented in a horizontal manner, ensuring a health-in-all-policies
approach. The area of health is a typical example where sectors such as finance, education,
agriculture and food industry have an equally important role. Yet, the health sector cannot set
their agendas. Therefore, the integration of health issues in other policies is an area where
your assistance is vital and necessary.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Surveys indicate that people place health among the top priorities in their life. This is an
indication to all of us where the priorities of our work should lie both at the regional and at the
national level. Our Partnership works to address it and we count on your strong support.
Thank you for your attention.