Health spending continues to stagnate in many OECD countries - The global economic crisis has had a dramatic effect on health spending. Estimates of expenditure on health released in 2012 showed that health spending had slowed markedly or fallen acoss many OECD countries. Preliminary estimates suggest that the low or negative growth in health spending is set to continue in many countries in the following years. To access the OECD working paper, click here.

Geographic imbalance in doctor supply and policy responses - Doctors are distributed unequally across different regions in virtually all OECD countries, and this causes concern about how to continue to ensure access to health services everywhere. In particular access to services in rural regions is the focus of attention of policymakers, although in some countries, poor urban and sub-urban regions pose a challenge as well. Despite numerous efforts this maldistribution of physician supply persists. OECD recently published a working paper that examines the drivers of the location choice of physicians, and second, it examines policy responses in a number of OECD countries. To access the working paper, click here.

Delivering on EU food safety and nutrition in 2050 - Scenarios of future change and policy response - The European Commission has published a foresight study aiming to provide insight and guidance for future policy-making and the research which underpins EU policy in this area is now available. To access the publication, click here.

What is behind European political parties' Election Manifestos? Paliament Magazine offers an analysis of EU Election manifestos of the main European political parties, regrouping  policy priorities by field. Click here to view the analysis.

Conclusions of EU Summit on Chronic Diseases released - Speaker presentations and video recordings are also available for viewing and download. To access the material, click here.

European Elections: less than one month to go! European Elections will take place across the EU from 22 to 25 May. Check here our EP2014 material to help you engage with MEP candidates and put diabetes high on the agenda!

Click here to find a list of elections events organized in EU member states.You can also find here a timeline of the upcoming milestones after the European Elections, including the nomination of the Presidents of the new European Parliament and European Commission.

  Upcoming Events 

• 8th European Patients Rights Day, 12-13 May, Brussels. For more information, click here.

• European Association for Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) Summit on the future of hospital pharmacy services in Europe, 14-15 May, Brussels. For more information, click here.

Third EU Health Programme National Info Days!
Last month we informed you of the adoption of the Health For Growth Programme, the EU’s third health programme. Dates for National Information days about funding opportunties under this programme as well as the content of the programme itself are available here.

For further information about the EU’s third health programme, please contact your national focal points. A list of national focal points will soon be available here.