Meeting the European Health Risk Union with a European Health Rights Union

In the context of this year’s European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), I was asked to comment on the question: Why do we need a true European Health Union? In a nutshell, I argue in my response that we are currently living in a European Health Risk Union where risks both to public and individual health have come to enjoy a freedom of movement aligned to that of persons, goods, services and capital. Consequently, to meet such collectivised risk, we need a true European Health Rights Union – one in which health rights are not determined by citizenship, but by residence. Because when it comes to public health, we are all naturally only as resilient as the weakest ones among us. You can read my full response in the September issue of healthy europe.