Health

Europe is facing a shortage of doctors in all specialties. The shortage of general practitioners is a particular problem. GPs are ageing, they are unevenly distributed between different regions and the profession is not attracting the young people who could be its supply.

Downsizing, outsourcing, budget cuts: Greece's public healthcare system is reeling from a combination of chronic underfunding and austerity policies. As the quality of care declines and working conditions deteriorate, young doctors are increasingly tempted to leave the country.

Europe does not have enough primary-care doctors, and Belgium is no exception to the rule. Steps are now being taken to renew the country’s ranks, but the ageing of the population and upcoming retirements are raising fears of a crunch in the years to come.

Europe is facing a shortage of doctors, across all specialisations. The deficit of general practitioners is a particular problem. Family doctors are ageing and unevenly distributed, and their profession is struggling to attract new recruits.

National paediatric associations in six of eight European countries do not disclose their financial ties with the private sector.

The European Union's recent regulation, finalised in late March, promises more effective control for patients over their health data. At the same time, it seeks to ensure adequate access for doctors and scientists in the digital age, where big data is essential for effective research.

The quality of air in Serbia has been the subject of discussion for years, and it is no secret that the country is the worst in Europe in terms of premature pollution-related deaths. Recent satellite data accessed by Deutsche Welle in cooperation with the European Data Journalism Network is revealing.

Only a few days remain for the European Commission to address the tobacco lobby-related concerns recently raised by the EU Ombudsman in her recent preliminary findings. The industry is heavily represented in Brussels, but there is not sufficient transparency on its interactions with policy-makers.

Over the past 20 years, Europe has seen a 20-fold increase in drug shortages. Governments have used the Ukraine war and the energy crisis to obscure other – mostly structural – causes. This Europe-wide investigation reveals a range of explanations for Europe’s missing medicines.

The European Commission recently registered a European Citizens’ Initiative, that, among other measures, would prohibit any European citizen born after 2010 from buying cigarettes. The idea intends to phase out legal smoking, but according to statistics, it would cause significant issues in some member states, since young people apparently like to smoke.