How far have we come in strengthening health system resilience in Europe? Towards a European Health Union

Johannes Rauch was appointed Austria´s Federal Minister for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection in March 2022.

He was born in 1959, and grew up with five siblings in Rankweil, Austria. In his early career he spent four years as a bank clerk.  Youth work followed, then the completion of a social work diploma and many years of social work, before he embarked upon the management of a socio-economic enterprise.

A member of the Green Party since 1985, he entered politics part-time in 1990, which this became a full-time job from 2014. He has two grown-up daughters and in his spare time loves reading, cycling and nature.

Political career:

• since 1985: participation in the Green Party
• 1990-1996: environmental councillor in Rankweil
• 1997-2021: Spokesman of the executive committee of the Vorarlberg Green Party
• 2000-2014: Landtagsabgeordneter
• 2004-2014: Chairman of the regional parliamentary group
• 2014-2022: Member of the Vorarlberg state government (State Councillor)
• since March 2022: Federal Minister for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection

Main areas of political focus:

• Nature conservation, transport and spatial planning
• Social and health policy
• Budget and tax policy
• Labour market policy

Maya Matthews has worked in public health for the past 25 years.  Since 1 October 2022, she is the Acting Director for Digital, EU4health and health systems modernisation as well Head of Unit for State of health, European Semester, Health Technology Assessment at the European Commission’s Health and Food Safety Directorate General. She was previously Deputy Head of Unit in the Strategy and Coordination unit. From 2013-2016, Maya worked at the European Union’s Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva where she covered health issues and relations with the World Health Organisation. Before joining the European Commission in 2008, Maya worked in Brussels for Eurohealthnet and consulted on reproductive health, HIV prevention and Tuberculosis.  Maya holds a BA in Human Sciences from Oxford University and a Masters in Health Promotion Sciences from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where she also worked as a researcher from 1993-1995.  

Ricardo Baptista Leite is the Founder & President of UNITE, a global network of parliamentarians committed to achieving political impact towards ending infectious diseases as a global health threat. Since 2011, Ricardo is a Member of the Portuguese National Parliament where he is, since the beginning of his third term, the Vice-President of the Social Democratic Party Parliamentary Board. He is also the National Spokesperson for Health of the Social Democratic Party. A Medical Doctor trained in infectious diseases; Ricardo is also the Head of Public Health at Católica University of Portugal. Ricardo is also the Vice President of the ‘Parliamentary Network on The World Bank & International Monetary Fund’, where he works directly with The World Bank Group and IMF. The network’s mission is to provide a platform for parliamentarians around the globe to advocate for increased accountability and transparency in International Financial Institutions and multilateral development financing. In April 2019, Ricardo became Global Ambassador of the ‘G20 Health & Development Partnership’ aimed at advising and advocating G20 countries on health policies aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In recognition of Ricardo’s academic work and policy leadership in the field of Hepatitis C, Ricardo was awarded by ‘The Economist Intelligence Unit’ as an ‘HCV Change Maker’ (2016). This acknowledgement was attributed to solely six people globally.

Sarada Das is the Secretary General of the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME). CPME represents national medical associations across Europe and is committed to contributing the medical profession’s point of view to EU and European policy-making through pro-active cooperation on a wide range of health and healthcare related issues.

Ms Das has been working for CPME since 2009 and has assisted the CPME membership in its activities relating to professional practice and ethics.  

Ms Das holds a B.A. in European Studies and an LL.M. in European Law from the University of Maastricht.

Nicole is a Technical Officer based at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies in Brussels. Her work focuses on innovation, evidence-informed health policy and health systems in Europe. Before joining the Observatory, she worked as a Blue Book Trainee at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), where her work focused on health information and the State of Health in the EU cycle. She has also worked as a Scientific Officer at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. Nicole holds a Medical Degree from the University of Milan, Italy. In 2020, she was awarded a doctoral scholarship at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (Heidelberg Graduate School of Global Health), Germany, where she is currently completing her doctoral studies with a focus on hypertension management in low- and middle-income countries. Results from her project were recently published in Science Translational Medicine. She is also studying for a master’s degree in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Nicole’s research and professional interests include health policy and systems research at European and global level, social determinants of health, health system innovation and change. 

Dorli Kahr-Gottlieb has been in her position as Secretary General of the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) since 2012. She is responsible for the overall management of the association and the joint development of the association with the team, EHFG Board and Advisory Committee members and national & international partners. Dorli has been passionately involved in the health sector for over 15 years, starting with her engagement in the first Austrian Master of Public Health programme at the Medical University of Graz and her work for the European Public Health Association (EUPHA), where she oversaw the coordination of the European Public Health Conference. Dorli holds a degree in Intercultural Competencies and has been engaged in intercultural projects and culture & health trainings. Dorli is a member of the Sciana Health Leaders Network. 

Dr Matthias Wismar is programme manager at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. He is leading, managing and developing studies, policy briefs, rapid responses and face-to-face dissemination events including policy dialogues, evidence briefings, book launches and webinars. 

His main areas of interest are health policy, politics and governance; civil society and health; European integration and health and health systems; the health workforce; and health in all policies (HiAP). 

He holds a doctorate in political science from Goethe University, Frankfurt (Germany) and has also studied at the University of Southampton (UK) and at the Nuffield College, Oxford (UK). Before joining the Observatory he was heading a health policy research unit at Medical School Hanover (Germany).