Health
As member states increasingly face common concerns in healthcare (such as demographic ageing), the application of the OMC has been discussed. In March 2004 the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the Commission to present a proposal for the use of the OMC in health and long term care. The April 2004 Communication by the Commission recommended to apply the OMC to the development and modernization of health care provision and funding. As potential advantages the Commission pointed to:
- greater consistency with existing social protection mechanism
- closer coordination with other political processes such as the EES (in particular regard to the ageing workforce), As a result the issues of health should better reflect the Lisbon strategy
- involving the many actors in the sectors, particularly the social partners, the health care profession and patient representatives
Further steps have been taken to start the introduction of the OMC.
Read more about this topic: Open Method Of Coordination
Famous quotes containing the word health:
“Give a man health and a course to steer; and he’ll never stop to trouble about whether he’s happy or not.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“We have to give ourselves—men in particular—permission to really be with and get to know our children. The premise is that taking care of kids can be a pain in the ass, and it is frustrating and agonizing, but also gratifying and enjoyable. When a little kid says, “I love you, Daddy,” or cries and you comfort her or him, life becomes a richer experience.”
—Anonymous Father. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 3 (1978)
“All health and success does me good, however far off and withdrawn it may appear; all disease and failure helps to make me sad and does me evil, however much sympathy it may have with me or I with it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)