Healthcare is highly labour intensive and one of the largest economic sectors in the EU – accounting for around 17 million jobs (8% of all jobs). Population growth, ageing societies, and changing disease patterns are expected to drive greater demand for well-trained health workers in the next 15 years. However, according to the WHO, today health workforce imbalances and shortages are major concerns in Europe. Although the number of physicians and nurses has increased in the region by approximately 10% over the past 10 years. It is unlikely that this increase will be stable and sufficient to cover the future needs of the sector.
In this vein, the European health system requires a deep reconstruction to ensure its sustainability: ageing society, the rise of chronic diseases, increased demand for primary care and personalised lifelong care are causing economic stress on health systems and their workforce.
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