Health

Over the past 20 years, Europe has seen a 20-fold increase in drug shortages. Governments have used the Ukraine war and the energy crisis to obscure other – mostly structural – causes. This Europe-wide investigation reveals a range of explanations for Europe’s missing medicines.

The European Commission recently registered a European Citizens’ Initiative, that, among other measures, would prohibit any European citizen born after 2010 from buying cigarettes. The idea intends to phase out legal smoking, but according to statistics, it would cause significant issues in some member states, since young people apparently like to smoke.

Only two European Union member states confirm that they had strategic reserves of the most effective and safe vaccine against monkeypox, a smallpox-like virus.

Anxiety and depression were among the most common mental-health problems across the European Union even before the pandemic. But in every EU country that provides psychological help as part of its public healthcare, there are limits to this in practice. And some countries do not even offer such help.

In addition to economic or altruistic motivation, anonymity plays a key role in egg or sperm donation, although an increasing number of countries require disclosure of donor identities.

Erika and her husband have tried in-vitro fertilisation four times since 2017, but after two implantations without success they had enough of the overworked Hungarian healthcare system and decided to try their luck abroad. They have never regretted their decision.

A survey coordinated by Lighthouse Reports and Picum reveals that when it comes to vaccinating undocumented residents, governments have often not done enough, and sometimes nothing at all, putting the health of the general population at risk.

An interview with Alessio Scandurra, director of the European Prison Observatory, to understand the impact of the pandemic on European prisons, in terms of both healthcare and opportunities for inmates. 

Football, the gym, personal visits, all came to an abrupt end in Hungarian prisons as the coronavirus outbreak hit. Since then, prisoners and relatives have taken to Skype. The lack of face-to-face meetings has been offset by the fact that the great majority of prisoners have been vaccinated.

European countries have spent months debating what to do with data collected through contact tracing apps. A lack of consensus, as well as the launch of new systems by Apple and Google, lessened the chances of a unified protocol among the bloc. What is clear is that Europe always prioritised the data protection of its own users.