Ensuring Access to Innovative, Sustainable and High-Quality Health Care
(HORIZON-HLTH-2024-CARE-04-two-stage)
Deadline model: Two Stage
Opening date: 30 March 2023
Deadline date: 19 September 2023 | 11 April 2024
Expected Outcome:
This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination 4 “Ensuring access to innovative, sustainable and high-quality health care”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim for delivering results that are directed, tailored towards and contributing to several of the following expected outcomes:
- Decision- and policymakers, service providers, and health and care workers have better availability to and make use of knowledge on barriers to access to health and care services[1] experienced by people in vulnerable situations and at risk of stigma or discrimination (from now on referred to as people in vulnerable situations)[2].
- Decision- and policymakers, providers and health and care workers have access to innovative solutions to promote and improve access to health and care services for people in vulnerable situations.
- Decision- and policymakers and providers have access to reliable quantitative data on health inequalities in access to health and care services for people in vulnerable situations.
- People in vulnerable situations are better equipped in terms of health and digital literacy, knowledge about their rights etc. when it comes to access to health and care services.
- People in vulnerable situations are involved in the design and implementation of research and innovation activities concerning access to health and care services.
Scope:
Equal and needs-based access to health and care services are important values of the EU, as well as central principles within the Member States (for example 2006 Council Conclusions on Common values and principles in European Union Health Systems, European Pillar of social rights). At the same time, plenty of evidence indicates that there is unmet need for health and care services. Although financial barriers are an important part of the explanation[3], it is also evident that even in countries where co-payment is low or even zero, access to health and care services differs between groups. Certain groups are more at risk of not accessing all the health and care services they need, depending among other factors, on their socio-economic and legal status, age, sex and gender identity, (dis)ability, ethnicity and geographical location.
For example, the life expectancy for the Roma people – the largest ethnic minority in the EU – is on average ten years shorter than the general population. This is because, due to poor socio-economic conditions and ethnic segregation, many Roma people live in enclaves where equal opportunities to services including infrastructure are lacking. Due to these inequalities that are also rooted in antigypsysim[4], Roma people are facing much greater difficulties accessing and receiving standard health and care services including prevention compared to other citizens[5].
There are significant health inequalities between the LGBTIQ community and the population as a whole. One part of the explanation is reluctance to seek health and care services because they have experienced or fear hostile reactions. Trans- and intersex people still struggle to access quality and affordable medication and care, both related to general health services and specific health care relating to transition, such as a lack of relevant medication or surgical procedures[6].
Compared to men, older women have a higher poverty risk also due to lower pay and lower pensions. They face a higher risk to live longer in poorer health, so their overall need for health and especially care services is therefore higher. People living in difficult socio-economic situations, such as homeless people or people at the risk of poverty may experience similar issues. For migrants and refugees, uncertain legal status, fear of public authorities, or language difficulties may cause additional barriers to seeking adequate health and care services.
Whilst factors outside the health and care sector also have an impact on people’s access to health and care services, health and care systems can influence and facilitate access through accessibility, costs, referrals and attitudes.
Another aspect concerns access to data regarding certain groups. Whereas data on access to health and care when it comes to factors related to socio-economic characteristics, geographical barriers, sex, and age is more accessible, data on people in vulnerable situations (often due to the problem of sensitivity of data) is often less accessible, contributing to making the situation of these groups less visible.
Activities under this call should focus on groups that are in vulnerable situations from a social, financial or health perspective, or at risk of discrimination, such as migrants, Roma people, trans and intersex people, specific age and gender groups (that intersects with other aspects of vulnerability, such as elderly women), indigenous people, homeless people, people in poverty or at risk of poverty, people with disabilities or patients with complex conditions. Where relevant, activities should use intersectional approaches to consider, inter alia, socioeconomic factors, geography, citizenship, age, sex and gender identity, and ethnicity.
Topic Eligibility and Documents: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/wp-call/2023-2024/wp-13-general-annexes_horizon-2023-2024_en.pdf
Kindly Apply: