European Health Forum Gastein 2024

Shifting sands of health – democracy, demographics, digitalization

The European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) is an independent organization for European health policy, bringing together diverse stakeholders to shape the future of health systems.

The 27th EHFG, held from September 24–27, 2024, in the scenic town of Bad Hofgastein, Austria, focused on the transformative forces of Democracy, Demographics, and Digitalisation. Co-organized by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, with support from the European Union and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the forum explored strategies to address health care challenges and create resilient, sustainable health systems.

Students from the MCI master's programs in International Health & Social Management (IHSM) and European Health Economics & Management (Eu-HEM) attended the event and shared the following insights:

Key Takeaways

1. The Future of Healthcare:
   
   One of the things that really sparked interest was the realization that healthcare and public health are on the horizon of a massive change, called AI. A lot of sessions were dedicated to telemedicine, digitalizing, AI and also the regulations around those topics. This underlined the importance of innovation and also innovative learning for us as students, preparing ourselves for what is coming.
   
   
2. Healthcare in Crisis:
   
   An especially poignant session addressed healthcare management during wartime, featuring Ukrainian officials. Their stories demonstrated the extraordinary resilience and adaptability required to maintain healthcare in extreme conditions.
   
   
3. Sustainability in Health:
   
   Sustainability emerged also as a central theme, highlighting the necessity of integrating eco-friendly practices into health systems. The discussions underscored the shared responsibility of the healthcare sector in addressing environmental challenges.

Highlights

One of the standout sessions was "Co-creating an EHFG Community Mission Letter," where one MCI student contributed by co-moderating a talk together with Markus Frischhut, lecture of MCI. They discussed potential health policy reforms for the next EU commission and parliament. The participants had the opportunity to brainstorm and present their ideas on topics such as commercial determinants of health, health equity, digital transformation, environmental determinants of health, and the strategic vision of health.

Looking Ahead

The students left the EHFG inspired, equipped with new ideas, and motivated to contribute to a healthier and more sustainable future.

Insider Tip: Apply early for the Young Gasteiners program to engage even more closely with the forum and its participants.

Prof. Dr. Markus Frischhut reflects as follows:

“The European Health Forum Gastein is a high-level event bringing together key decision-makers, academia, etc. in the field of EU health policy and law. The beautiful scenery of Bad Hofgastein hosted this enriching event addressing key topics of democracy, demographics and digitalization. Various sessions have addressed cutting-edge topics such as ‘social participation’, health workforce, democracy and health, artificial intelligence, the One health approach, or an EHFG community mission letter addressed to the next European Commission and European Parliament. MCI students of IHSM and Eu-HEM were able to get first hand insights from health policy makers and scholars and were able to network with them.”