The Minister of Health, Spyridon-Adonis Georgiadis, was Keynote Speaker at the Final Conference for “Addressing Health Inequalities: 2014 and Beyond: Building Cohesion and Strengthening Health for Growth”.

Minister Georgiadis addressed the topic of “looking forward to action across the social determinants of health: The role of the EU Presidency”. He also took part in the panel discussion entitled “looking Forward: Turning awareness about health inequalities into action”.
The Minister stressed that “health is wealth. And investment in health contributes to economic growth, economic prosperity and welfare”, adding that “investing in tackling health inequalities contributes to a more just, human and more equitable society with greater social cohesion and greater productivity”. 

In conclusion, Mr Georgiadis urged the audience to share his aspirations: “(a) Let us shift our focus of analysis from health care and health services to tackling health inequalities, (b) Let us increase our investment in health promotion, health protection and population health, (c) Adopt better governance for our health systems, (d) Strengthen European Collaboration towards reducing health inequities (e) Monitor public health progress and increase accountability.”  

Eminent speakers included Tonio Borg, (EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy), Zsuzsanna Jakab (Regional Director, WHO Europe) Prof. Sir Michael Marmot (Director, Institute of Health Equity), as well as several ministers, academics and researchers from many EU Member States.