Let us rely on prevention and prevention programmes, otherwise we are at risk of problems, even with the inexorable demographic development. The health of the population has a fundamental impact on the competitiveness of companies, as well as on the economic functioning and defence of the state. The participants of the Eurodebate of Ekonomický deník, Česká justice and Zdravotnický deník on the topic The Future of Europe – an Agenda for the New European Parliament and the European Commission, in which MEP Veronika Vrecionová (ODS) and other experts discussed, agreed.
MEP Veronika Vrecionová considers the health of the population to be crucial for the economy of companies and countries. „If you have sick employees, the performance of the company and thus the whole economy decreases. But if you have healthy employees, you make money, the economy grows and you can invest more,“ she said in the Eurodebate.
She stressed that for these reasons it is very worthwhile to invest in prevention and in various prevention programmes. Moreover, Vrecionová said, investing in prevention is important because of its resilience to crises. „Prevention is cheaper than the costs associated with treating various long-term illnesses. Health must come first and prevention is the key to this,“ the MEP noted.
The impact of health care on the economic health of countries is clearly shown by global data, emphasised Viktor Daněk, deputy director of EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, in the Eurodebate. „The higher the quality of healthcare, the higher the quality of life and the higher the life expectancy. And the longer people can stay active and contribute to the country’s economic performance,“ Daněk said. He added that we are slowly catching up with neighbouring Germany and the EU average in terms of life expectancy, but we are still lagging behind. „In addition, the poorly managed response to the covid pandemic has brought a temporary significant drop. Within Central Europe, the Czech Republic is better off than, for example, Poland or Slovakia, but it is still the case that a person born in the west of our country has an average chance of living almost two years longer than in the Czech Republic,“ Daněk noted.
In the Eurodebate, he also warned that the demographic changes we are going through and will continue to go through may make it problematic to financially ensure at least the same quality of healthcare in the future as we have today. „Demographic changes will lead to simultaneous pressures on the health and pension systems. Despite years of warnings from economists, the Czech Republic has not passed a deep pension reform. And apart from a failed attempt in 2008, governments are either resorting to parametric changes towards greater sustainability or even falling back on proposals for changes that, while appealing to voters, will put even more strain on the balance of the pension account in the future,“ said Daněk, who believes that pressure on the state budget in the social sector can be expected to grow, increasing the risk to maintaining the quality of the healthcare system in the future. According to Daněk, this is a problem that extends beyond one term, which is why Czech governments are unable to come up with a systemic solution.
Jaroslav Šebek, the chairman of the Association of Private Agriculture (ASZ ČR), also believes that good health of the population is essential for any economy for several reasons. „Firstly, health condition obviously determines the stability of the workforce and at the same time it is true that people without major health problems can benefit more from a variety of services and products. Second, the ever-increasing retirement age may be problematic given the health of the over-60 population – so if people in this age bracket are healthy, they will be better able to cope with the shifting retirement age threshold, but at the same time the chances that they will want to continue to participate in the labour market will increase. Thirdly, the health of the population is closely linked to the availability and regular consumption of good quality food. The ASZ ČR associates and supports local and reliable food producers, because the availability and sustainability of these products is not only crucial from an economic point of view, but can also positively influence the health and fitness of consumers,“ Šebek said.
According to him, all of these reasons are closely related. „In essence, all these aspects are interrelated in their causes and effects, and a single issue cannot be properly and effectively resolved without respecting the issues of the others. In laymen’s terms – the competitiveness of businesses and the entire economy begins and ends with the good health of people, and this applies to all human endeavours,“ he explained.
The Ukrainian example shows why not to underestimate the situation
According to MEP Veronika Vrecionová, just like in the economy, the health of the population plays a crucial role in the defence sector and the country’s defence capability. „The population is ageing, which is reflected in how old we will have our soldiers. The time we want to have soldiers on active service will probably increase. And their health is critical to the security of the country. We are at a time when Russia is waging a war against Ukraine, and we see that young and old, but most importantly healthy, have gone to defend their country in Ukraine,“ Vrecion said in the Eurodebate. According to her, we cannot and must not underestimate the situation. „The population must be healthy so that in case of emergency we have healthy and strong men and women who will be able to defend their country,“ she added.
Viktor Daněk stressed that due to demographic changes there will be a general decline of people on the labour market in the future, which may make it more difficult to fill the required numbers in our fully professionalised army, among other things. According to him, investment in prevention is essential, especially to increase the length of productive life and the overall hope of a longer life expectancy. „This reflects positively on the overall economic condition of the country, which in my opinion is an even more significant factor for the country’s defence capability,“ Daněk concluded.
Jakub Němec
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Photo: Martin Kovář
