Considerations on Health Policy

ABSTRACT. The present paper presents some considerations on the health policy, the first part, based on the literature review, placing this policy in the framework of social policies as public policies. The second part of the paper is dedicated to the general presentation of the EU health policy, with a special view on the ongoing Health Program (2008-2013) and the institutions involved in putting it into practice. Conclusions reveal that we can fully argue that health policy makes part of the family of social policies and that, at EU level, although the Member States have the main responsibility for their health policy, there are some fields where the action at the Union's level is irreplaceable.Keywords: health policy, social policies, responsibility1. Health Policy as Social PolicyIn the field literature it is shown that social policy comprises activities and principles of the society, which orientate the way in which the State intervenes and regulates the relations between individuals, groups, communities and social institutions (. . .). Thus, social policy includes plans and programs to ensure economic security and social welfare, the access to education and health, prevention of criminality and negative effects of the economic crisis, identified in unemployment, poverty and social exclusion.1By the term social policy we refer most often to the activities/actions carried on by the State (strategies, programs, projects, institutions, legislation) that have the purpose to promote and influence the welfare of the individual, family or community in a society, as well as the welfare of the society as a whole.Social policies are included in the larger sphere of the public policies, which also includes economic policies, external policy, etc.; in one word all the actions of the actors of the political system, from all the fields of the administration/governance.Some elements are being considered essential for the social policies of each State: Social legislation - which establishes the framework for social policies, the responsibilities concerning financing, implementation and evaluation of the social policies; Financing - which ensures the necessary resources for programs, projects and social benefits? Indicators as the percentage of social expenditures in the GNP can offer an image of the financing effort for the social policies of each State; Human resources - made up from specialists in the field of social policy, social care, sociology, pedagogy, economy, etc.In the framework of the global system of the social policies in a State, there can be discriminated field social policies, which refer to subsystems of the social system: policies in the field of health, education, policies against poverty, etc.As it is shown by the field literature, many factors determine the political inherent nature of health.3Uneven distribution, some social groups obtaining more than other;Health determinators - the social ones, like incomes and housing being susceptible of political interventions and also depending on them;Organization - any action proposed in order to prevent the needs of health require the commitment of the social machinery or the organized efforts of the society;Human rights - the right to a standard of living appropriate for health and welfare (ONU, 1948) must be a component of the human rights and citizenship;Globalization - process of close interaction of the human activity in diverse spheres, including politics, economy and culture on three dimensions: space, time and cognition.Public health policy is determined by a process of consultations, negotiations and research that leads to the planning of a set of actions that establish a vision on the planned objectives of public health. In the context of public health, the policy is determined, usually, by the executive arm of the State. Thus, it cannot be left apart the public health law, which consists in legislative acts and courts' judgments that apply to the interventions in the field of health, or to behaviors that concern health. …