The European Pillar of Social Rights aims to ensure timely access to affordable, high-quality preventive and curative healthcare. Unfortunately, social inequalities still prevent many people from accessing the care they need. A new Euronews ‘Make It Work’ episode explores how European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) funding is helping to bring primary healthcare to disadvantaged communities. 

Caroline Costongs, Director of EuroHealthNet, which works to tackle health inequalities across Member States, highlights findings from a recent Commission report showing that healthcare coverage is as crucial as unemployment benefits. “It is really very important for our social model to ensure that access to health services is covered adequately for vulnerable people,” she says.

The Euronews episode features a Greek ESF+ funded network of 127 TOMY units across the country, created to ease pressure on hospitals and bring healthcare closer to where people live.

“I come here because they care for me both physically and emotionally,” says Vassiliki Moustaka, a patient at the local health unit in the village of Giannouli, near Larissa, Greece. Unemployed and unable to afford private health insurance, she has struggled for years with multiple health issues, including diabetes.

“We are by their side to face any problem that comes up. We want them to feel our support, to feel like we are a family,” explains Dr Zoi Papanikolaou, coordinator of the team of the local health unit, treating around 100 patients a day.

TOMYs are just one example of EU-funded healthcare initiatives across Europe. Between 2021 and 2027, the EU and its Member States are investing €2.4 billion from the ESF+ to improve access to healthcare and social services.