On March 31 in Strasbourg, the 50th plenary session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe highlighted the urgent need for access to healthcare in Europe. Everywhere, systems are under strain: services are overwhelmed, wait times are growing, and healthcare professionals are exhausted. On the front lines, local elected officials face these challenges on a daily basis.
Yves Coppieters, Minister of Health, Environment, Solidarity and Social Economy of Wallonia, highlighted the shortage of medical staff and called for making medical studies to be made more attractive, for doctors to be better distributed, for hospital provision to be streamlined around regional hubs, and for outpatient care to be developed.
Bruno Metz, Mayor of Ettenheim (Germany), highlighted local action: despite the closure of its local hospital, Ettenheim has maintained local healthcare services through medical centres, the healthcare network, and new facilities, demonstrating the key role of municipalities in filling gaps in the system.
Ilias Apostolopoulos, Mayor of Papagou–Cholargos (Greece), called for a European response based on solidarity. He emphasised that access to healthcare is central to social cohesion and that local governments must support vulnerable populations and tailor their responses to local needs.
The youth delegates also made their voices heard, emphasising the link between health, poverty, and climate challenges, and calling for a human-centered and comprehensive approach. From Finland to Calabria, local elected officials shared concrete solutions: telemedicine, integrated health centres, mobile services, “social taxis,” prevention campaigns, and cross-border networks, proof that it is local authorities who are devising pragmatic and solidarity-based responses on a daily basis.
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