#EAPM: 2017 set to see challenges for health care equity and more

As we move into the second month of 2017, the previous year’s events are resonating more than ever, writes European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) Executive Director Denis Horgan. 

Donald Trump is now in the White House and already using his executive powers to pull out of trade deals and more, while Theresa May’s government lurches towards triggering Article 50 to formally begin the process of the UK’s exit from the European Union.   This despite the Supreme Court’s recent judgement that parliament must vote on Brexit.

The above points already mean we have an interesting year ahead, but they are far from all the important aspects - elections will take place across several member states this year and could prove critical to the EU’s balance.

The rise of the right in Europe has been noticeable for some time, and 2017 could see a seismic shift in political philosophy as Geert Wilders bids for power in the Netherlands (15 March), Marine Le Pen’s Front National will aim to at least the second round in the French presidential elections scheduled for late April, and Frauke Petry’s Alternative for Germany party is set to take on Angela Merkel in German elections due in the autumn.

On top of this, assembly elections are also coming up in Northern Ireland this year, interesting in the light of a Brexit decision that the British province largely voted against (alongside Scotland).  The biggies in the Netherlands, France and Germany look certain to see gains for the far-right parties.

And although it seems unlikely that Wilders will be able to form a government on his own, that Pen will end up president or that Petry will topple the current German Chancellor, we are about to experience what the Chinese call ‘interesting times’.

There has been a clear shift towards populist policies that embrace nationalism, are anti-immigration, anti-EU, and often anti-Islam (Wilders has described it as a totalitarian ideology) and play on fears of terrorism and the integration of swathes of refugees.

These views are gaining much support on the streets. Whether this support can be translated into political power remains to be seen, but the pattern is clear.

Shocks are clearly possible, as we have seen across the Atlantic and in the UK’s referendum.  It’s interesting to see that the usual political battlegrounds of health, the economy, employment, education and housing are all taking a back seat to matters such as immigration. Blame is being heaped largely on the EU in this regard, with many feeling that Brussels has failed to have a coherent policy on, for example, how to deal with the refugees flooding in from Syria.

However this pans out, the fact remains that issues surrounding health, jobs, the general state of growth and the economy, plus schooling, housing etcetera remain constant regardless of who is in power and on what platform.

Shifting politics to the far-right and emphasising anti-immigration policies, while blaming all internal issues on outside forces (‘Britain is full!’) has never cured the ills inherent in, for example, member state health systems.

Such policies will not suddenly produce a glut of well-trained Dutch, British or German doctors, nor will they alter the fact that pensions and healthcare systems are under intense pressure due to Europe’s ageing population.

We have seen countries blame certain sections of their own society for everything before, the most extreme of course being the Nazis persecuting everyone from Jews to gays to the disabled.

Each member state and its people rely on a social contract and the basic tenets of the European Union aim to ensure equality to rights and equitable treatment across the board.

Every government has a duty to uphold these tenets and, to be fair, most do their very best to do so under often difficult circumstances. So for citizens of any Member State to expect, say, anti-immigration measures to bring about a quick fix - while blaming the incumbent government for not bringing about said quick fixes - is unrealistic.

Popular, easy to digest, but unrealistic.  In President Trump’s inauguration speech he talked about handing power back to the people. Ordinary Americans. At the same time, he stuffed his team full of millionaire and billionaire businessmen and women who wouldn’t recognize the daily life of an ‘ordinary American’ if it bit them on the backside.

Trump’s idea of ‘draining the swamp’ has, arguably, been to throw in more and bigger alligators. It remains to be seen how this will help the larger sections of US society.

Focusing on health care and the two countries that have already held votes, in one (the UK) the NHS is cracking under the strain of being under-funded and under-resourced while in the other (the US) the new administration has already begun the job of dismantling so-called Obamacare, while offering, as yet, no replacement.

It has said, however, that the 20 million citizens currently in need of the health insurance that Obamacare provides will not lose coverage during any transition period, but details are scant.

Taking an overall view, regardless of political left, right, or centrist policies, the basic tenets of civilised society must remain in place. These are sacrosanct and irrelevant to the political mood of the day. In a Europe of 500 million potential patients across the current 28 member states, healthcare rights must always be improved and never be eroded, no matter who is in power

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