Source: Joan Costa-Font is associate professor (reader) in the Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics.

A key lesson from the COVIS-19 crisis should be that the collaboration and collective action required in Europe to meet these challenges cannot be achieved without transferring powers to a European public-health authority.

To defeat an epidemic, people need to trust scientific experts, citizens need to trust public authorities and countries need to trust each other.

Source: Michael D'Antonio (The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author)

Europe Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE), www.hope.be

1. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Committee (APIC), http://apic.cefic.org
2. Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), www.alliancerm.org
3. AnimalhealthEurope (previously known as IFAHEurope) www.animalhealtheurope.eu
4. Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO), www.acrohealth.org

Countries are ranked on six key variables that support well-being: income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.

Ranking out of 153 countries worldwide

1. Academy of Allergology Clinical Immunology, http://www.eaaci.org/
2. Academy of Dermatology & Venereology, http://www.eadv.org/
3. Association of Senior Hospital Physicians, http://www.aemh.org/pages/home.html
4. Biomedical Alliance in Europe (BioMed Alliance) www.biomedeurope.org

1. Immediate fiscal impulse: Additional government spending (such as medical resources, keeping people employed, subsidizing SMEs, public investment) and foregone revenues (such as the cancellation of certain taxes and social security contributions). These types of measures immediately lead to deterioration of the budget balance without any direct compensation later.

Source: Euro Health Consumer Index 2018

Based on

1. Patient Right and Information
2. Accessibility
3. Outcomes
4. Range and reach of services
5. Prevention
6. Pharmaceuticals

Ranking

1. Austria: Federal Ministry of Health, http://www.bmg.gv.at/
2. Belgium: Sciensano, https://www.sciensano.be/en
3. Bulgaria : National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases,http://www.ncipd.org/

Author: Guy Verhofstadt, Member of the European Parliament