Health policy and European Union enlargement - Martin McKee

What are the implications of the different levels of health in an enlarged EU?
Will free movement of goods, services and people within an enlarged EU be good for health and health care?
What have we learned from past enlargements?

European national policy-makers broadly agree on the core objectives that their health care system should pursue. The list is straightforward: universal access for all citizens, effective care for better health outcomes, efficient use of resources, and high quality services responsive to patient's concerns. It is a formula that resonates across the political spectrum and which, in various, sometimes inventive configurations, has played a role in most recent European national election campaigns.

While there may be consensus on the broader issues, expectations differ between EU countries, and with the enlargement of 2004 matters become more complex. This book seeks firstly to assess the impact of the enlargement process and then to analyse the challenges that lie ahead in the field of health and health policy. Written by leading health policy analysts, the book investigates a host of areas including: Health care investmentInternational recruitment of nurses and doctorsHealth and safetyCommunicable disease controlEuropean pharmaceutical policy

Health Policy and European Union Enlargement will be of interest to students of health policy, economics, public policy and management, as well as health managers and policy-makers.

Contributors: Tit Albreht, Roza Adany, Ivana Bozicevic, James Buchan, Richard Coker, Evgenia Delcheva, Carl-Ardy Dubois, Anna B. Gilmore, Antero Heloma, Rainer Hess, Elke Jakubowski, Nicholas Jennett, Panos Kanavos, Manuel Lobato, Karen Lock, Laura MacLehose, Martin McKee, Sally Nicholas, Ellen Nolte, Stjepan Oreskovic, Esa Osterberg, Anne Marie Rafferty, Magdalene Rosenmller, Alison Wright-Reid, Monika Zajac, Witold Zatonski.