• Europe’s leading 500 health policy experts drawn from policy, academia, civil society and business will attend this year’s event with the theme “Health in all Politics”.
• Celebrations to mark the 20 years of the Forum will include discussions on the future of health in 2037.

Bad Hofgastein, Austria, 3 October 2017. The European Health Forum Gastein 2017 (EHFG 2017) opens its doors tomorrow with a programme exploring the theme “Health in All Politics”. Once more, the Forum will debate the latest thinking and policies that strive to achieve better health for all Europeans.

While efforts to foster inter-sectoral cooperation on health have been successful at times across Europe, real challenges remain. The discussions at the 20th EHFG aim to dig deeper, taking the technocratic and often cited concept of “Health in All Policies” to the political level of policy making, hence this years’ theme: “Health in All Politics”.  Participants will discuss how to drive positive change in the future across four concrete areas: Health systems, Access to medicines, Innovation, Big Data & ICT, and of course the central theme Health in All Policies. 

The EHFG this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. To mark this occasion - rather than merely looking back at the past two decades - the EHFG has engaged more than 50 experts from a wide variety of backgrounds in a scenario building process, exploring three visions for health in 2037.  The “EHFG Health Futures Project” imagines what health and healthcare for Europeans might look like in 20 years’ time, taking into consideration the complex factors that influence health and wellbeing. The three scenarios will be presented during the Forum, inviting participants to discuss the policy choices we need to consider today to make our health systems fit for the future. 

The EHFG continues to be the place to test ideas before putting them into practice. “As discussed in Gastein…” has been the driving force of the Forum since its inception. On this note, Dorli Kahr-Gottlieb, Secretary General of EHFG comments: “What better way to mark this milestone - 20 years EHFG - than showing that the added value of the Forum is its capacity to act as a platform for inclusive policy discussions on the health issues of tomorrow.”

The EHFG takes place between 4-6 October in Bad Hofgastein, Austria. The programme, including session content, speakers and more details is available online.

Note to the editors

About the European Health Forum Gastein

The European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) was founded in 1998 as a European health policy conference. It aims to provide a platform for all stakeholders from the field of health and beyond. Over the past decade, the EHFG has established itself as an indispensable institution in the scope of European health policy. It has made a decisive contribution to the development of guidelines and above all the cross-border exchange of experience, information and cooperation. Leading experts participate in the annual conference held in the Gastein Valley in the Austrian Alps for three days in October.

During the Forum, media advisory updates will be provided on the following themes: Big Data and Research, Health in All Politics, and Access to Innovative Medicines.