The Mediterranean region has been one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The region’s health systems have proven to be insufficiently prepared. After the most intense months of the emergency, health systems are beginning to recover, but with significant consequences.

The experience highlights the importance of having a solid, efficient and interconnected health system in the Mediterranean region. It has become clear that the region must revitalise and reorganise its health sector in order to respond to the challenges that may arise in an effective and coordinated manner together with other countries, bearing in mind that health crises know no borders. In conclusion, it is time to engage in long-term cooperation on health in the Mediterranean.

In this context, building sustainable health systems in Mediterranean economies is one of the biggest challenges of the region. Mediterranean economies have the opportunity to modernise their medical systems by taking advantage of the advances and innovation of the last years. In this regard, several Mediterranean areas and cities have positioned themselves as relevant innovation hubs.

In this sense, the public-private partnership (PPP) makes more sense than ever as it can be key to building resilient and emergency preparedness health systems. The traditional concept of these partnerships must evolve towards a sustainable ecosystem of collaboration and lasting in time.

The Mediterranean Healthcare Forum is an event that sits at the heart of the Mediterranean healthcare scene and brings together some of the most influential public and business leaders in Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa to network, discuss about growth & development in the healthcare sector, share knowledge, talk about the latest healthcare trends and do business.

By 2050 the world’s population will reach 10 billion and two in five of these people will be aged 60 or over, including 434 million over 80 years old. This combination of population growth and demographic changes will seriously accelerate the challenges we face in health and healthcare delivery. It is expected that the total healthcare expenditure will be 13% of GDP in OECD countries by 2050.

The Mediterranean Region comprises 22 countries with 550 million people, which implies a high degree of diversity when it comes to macroeconomic and developmental profiles of its countries. The diversity that is invariably reflected on the health state and health systems of the population in the different member states.

Concerning the economic growth rate of Mediterranean countries, it has been modest over the past decade especially after the economic crisis, exacerbating the situation, in particular in non‐oil producing countries. As a result, many governments have had to cut the per capita budget for social services, including health. To maintain the integrity of the public health system, policy‐makers have introduced cost containment and cost recovery strategies, thereby jeopardising the goal of fair financing and risking health protection.

 Global healthcare spending is projected to increase from $8.7 trillion in 2018 to $10 trillion by 2020. The emergence of personalised medicine, the growing amounts of data, the entry of disruptive and non-traditional competitors, the demand for expanded care delivery sites and revamped payment and also the public funding models, are all impacting the business and financial performance of the healthcare ecosystem. There is an urgency for stakeholders across the industry to transform their business models to remain relevant and financially viable in the long term.

On the other hand, there are common health challenges faced by several European countries. For example, building sustainable health systems in Mediterranean economies is one of the biggest challenges of the region. However, following the path of established health systems in developed economies is not the answer. With so many types of innovation available today, Mediterranean economies have an opportunity to bypass development stages that were previously unavoidable and sidestep the pitfalls of entrenched systems.