EU health ministers have recognised the strategic value of digital health in bringing about greater European cohesion by signing an institutional declaration during the Ministerial Conference on “e-Health” in Barcelona.

Spain's Minister of Health and Social Policy, Trinidad Jiménez, who appeared at the press conference with the European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, said the declaration reflects the “extraordinary political and strategic commitment our states have made to developing digital health”.

Trinidad Jiménez said that applying information and communication technologies (ICTs) will not only improve the quality and sustainability of healthcare systems in an ageing Europe, but will also contribute to economic growth, technological innovation and the social and territorial cohesion of the Union.

Commissioner Neelie Kroes said the signing of the declaration was “crucial” in order to promote the application of digital health, a challenge that the EU took on 20 years ago, and which has developed into 450 projects worth more than one billion euros.

“Europe is a world leader in electronic health, and sometimes other parts of the world try to take this position, but we are there at the top and we will stay there”, said Kroes.

She said digital health represents “a market worth 15 billion euros per year” and has greater potential for growth during the current economic crisis. 

“We have to change gear, our finances are crying out for it, our people expect it, and we need, more than ever, the high-quality jobs and services that this sector can bring to our societies”, she added. 

The European commissioner said she was convinced that "if we do not embrace e-health our healthcare systems will no longer work tomorrow", and called for "a single market for electronic health" to be included on the EU's list of outstanding tasks.

The European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, John Dalli, is also taking part in the conference, as well as the President of the regional government of Catalonia, José Montilla, and the Catalan Regional Minister of Health, Marina Geli.
For the first time, the ministerial conference is being held at the same time as the World of Health IT Conference and Exhibition, which is attended by representatives of the leading industries in the sector.

The institutional declaration signed today by the European health ministers covers five main points:
- A commitment to greater political coordination between the various areas in which digital health could increase health benefits for the public.
- The need for greater synergies in the areas of competitiveness and research and development, at national and European level.
 
- The importance of fully integrating digital health into all European policies and in developing the European strategy beyond 2010.
- Actions to be organised at EU level relating to the innovation and development of digital health, in order to improve the technical feasibility and legal security of handling data digitally.
- Ensuring the participation of all the sectors involved in developing and planning digital healthcare.

Spain, along with Sweden and Denmark, is a leader in terms of introducing computerised patient records and electronic prescriptions. It is taking part along with 12 other countries in the European epSOS project on exchanging clinical information, and 98% of all primary healthcare doctors in Spain are already using digital health systems.