The central message from the Friends of Europe “Reimagining Europe’s Health Systems” summit was that health is increasingly being viewed not as a cost centre but as a strategic asset underpinning Europe’s competitiveness, resilience, security and social cohesion. Across multiple sessions, policymakers, industry leaders and health system experts argued that healthcare should be treated as critical infrastructure in much the same way as energy, defence and digital networks.
For Nuclear Medicine Europe, several themes emerged that are particularly relevant: prevention and early diagnosis, AI-enabled healthcare, workforce shortages, strategic autonomy in healthcare supply chains, and the growing political recognition that health innovation must be embedded within broader European industrial and competitiveness policies.
Health as critical infrastructure
A recurring theme was the need to integrate health into wider EU discussions on preparedness, economic security and competitiveness. Speakers argued that healthcare systems are fundamental to productivity, labour market participation and democratic stability.
Greek Alternate Health Minister Eirini Agapidaki argued that Europe still talks about health using an outdated framework focused on costs and service delivery rather than viewing health systems as societal infrastructure. She stressed that access to healthcare influences trust in institutions and social cohesion and should therefore be considered a strategic policy domain.
For Nuclear Medicine Europe, this shift is significant. It creates a more favourable policy environment for investment in advanced diagnostics, precision medicine and nuclear medicine infrastructure, which can increasingly be framed not only as healthcare expenditures but as investments in economic resilience.
Prevention and early detection
Perhaps the most relevant discussion for nuclear medicine concerned prevention and earlier intervention.
Several speakers argued that Europe’s health systems remain overly focused on treating illness rather than detecting disease early and preventing progression. The summit programme explicitly highlighted early detection, risk management and data-driven approaches as essential components of future health system resilience.
Agapidaki described prevention as a “game changer”, arguing that Europe cannot simply solve future healthcare demand through more doctors and hospitals. Instead, systems must shift toward prevention, screening and proactive population health management.
This aligns closely with Nuclear Medicine Europe’s longstanding argument that imaging and nuclear medicine can identify disease earlier, guide treatment more effectively and ultimately reduce downstream healthcare costs. The discussion suggests that prevention is no longer being treated solely as a public-health communications exercise but as a strategic function of resilient health systems.
AI and data: opportunity and challenge
Artificial intelligence dominated much of the discussion.
Participants consistently identified AI as one of the biggest opportunities to address workforce shortages and improve efficiency. However, speakers stressed that AI’s benefits will only materialise if Europe first addresses fundamental data and interoperability challenges.
Philips’ Rob de Bie argued that healthcare systems are still far behind other sectors in terms of digitalisation. Before AI can deliver meaningful benefits, hospitals must first make data accessible, interoperable and shareable across systems.
The discussion has direct implications for nuclear medicine:
- AI-assisted image analysis was repeatedly cited as a promising area.
- Better integration of imaging data into wider healthcare systems was highlighted as a prerequisite for future innovation.
- Speakers stressed that AI should augment rather than replace clinicians, maintaining a “human-in-command” approach for healthcare decision-making.
Interestingly, a later discussion referenced evidence that AI is already outperforming clinicians in certain image-recognition tasks, with Denmark’s health ministry representative specifically noting that AI can identify breast cancer more effectively than humans in some circumstances.
For Nuclear Medicine Europe, this reinforces the growing importance of AI-enabled imaging, radiomics and decision-support tools within diagnostic pathways.
Workforce shortages driving innovation
Workforce shortages were identified almost universally as the greatest challenge facing European healthcare systems.
Participants highlighted projections showing substantial shortages of healthcare professionals over the coming decade. However, speakers increasingly framed technology and redesigned care pathways as part of the solution rather than simply focusing on staffing numbers.
For nuclear medicine, this could strengthen the case for technologies that increase productivity, streamline workflows and enable specialists to manage larger patient populations without compromising quality.
Preparedness, HERA and strategic autonomy
The summit devoted considerable attention to preparedness and healthcare security.
Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of HERA, argued that Europe has become substantially better prepared since COVID-19, pointing to strengthened surveillance systems, joint procurement mechanisms and stockpiling initiatives. She stressed the importance of maintaining manufacturing capabilities and supply chains within Europe and highlighted preparedness for pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, climate-related health threats and conflict scenarios.
The broader discussion repeatedly linked health security with industrial policy and strategic autonomy.
Marilena Vrana of PPTA Europe argued that Europe’s healthcare resilience depends on understanding vulnerabilities in specific supply chains rather than applying one-size-fits-all solutions. She pointed to the EU’s continuing dependence on US plasma supplies as an example of strategic vulnerability.
For Nuclear Medicine Europe, this debate mirrors concerns around radioisotope production, supply security and dependence on a limited number of production facilities. Although nuclear medicine supply chains were not discussed directly, the strategic autonomy narrative is increasingly relevant to the sector.
More realistic approach to innovation
A noteworthy theme was the call for innovation policies that move beyond launching new technologies and focus instead on implementation.
Speakers repeatedly noted that many digital and health innovations remain trapped in pilot projects and fail to scale across healthcare systems. Barriers include procurement practices, reimbursement systems, workforce skills, data governance and fragmented decision-making structures.
Several participants stressed that innovation should be viewed across the entire value chain, including manufacturing, logistics and service delivery, rather than solely as the development of new therapies or devices.
This message resonates strongly with Nuclear Medicine Europe‘s priorities around ensuring that innovative diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine technologies are not only approved but also integrated into routine clinical pathways.
Implications for Nuclear Medicine Europe
The summit highlighted a healthcare policy landscape increasingly aligned with many of Nuclear Medicine Europe‘s priorities.
Three developments stand out:
- A stronger emphasis on prevention and early detection, creating opportunities for molecular imaging and precision diagnostics.
- Growing interest in AI-enabled healthcare, particularly imaging-based decision support and workflow optimisation.
- Recognition of healthcare as strategic infrastructure, strengthening arguments for sustained investment in advanced diagnostic technologies, research infrastructure and resilient supply chains.
Overall, the event suggested that European policymakers are increasingly viewing health through the lenses of competitiveness, preparedness and economic resilience. For nuclear medicine, this creates a potentially favourable environment in which diagnostic innovation, personalised medicine and strategic healthcare capabilities can be positioned not merely as clinical advances, but as essential components of Europe’s future resilience and prosperity.