The Federal Council’s health policy strategy 2020

On 6 December 2019, the Health2030 Strategy was adopted by the Federal Council. Building on the foundations of Health2020, it also defines new health policy priority areas.

Under Health2020, more than 36 measures have been pursued since 2013, at the federal and cantonal level, to make the health system more responsive to new challenges and to keep it affordable. In collaboration with key health system actors, numerous projects have been implemented, with positive impacts on healthcare in Switzerland. Health2030 builds on these foundations.

The health system remains under pressure, as a result of:

rising health costs;
an increase in non-communicable diseases;
structures overly focused on acute care;
shortages of qualified health professionals;
a lack of transparency, e.g. concerning costs and service quality;
social inequalities, unless they are mitigated; and
digitalisation, where limited progress has been made within the Swiss health system.

People in Switzerland have a high life expectancy and good access to healthcare. But, increasingly often, they suffer from chronic, care-intensive diseases at the end of life. Many households find it difficult to pay their health insurance premiums. Depending on their socioeconomic status, they may have unequal health opportunities.

With its health policy strategy for 2020–2030, the Federal Council intends to further improve the system, so that everyone in Switzerland can continue to benefit from high-quality, affordable healthcare. Health2030 sets a framework for action in health policy, providing guidance for all health system actors.

Focus on four most pressing challenges

The health policy strategy for 2020–2030 focuses on the four most pressing challenges:

technological and digital transformation;
demographic and social changes,
maintenance of high-quality, affordable care; and
opportunities for a healthy life (environment/workplace)

The new priority areas

With digital transformation and environment/workplace issues, the Federal Council has defined new priority areas.
Technological and digital advances are leading to fundamental changes in the health system. The Federal Council wishes to promote digitalisation and the use of data. At the same time, it wants to foster debate within society on the opportunities and risks of new technologies. For example, we need to address the legal and ethical questions arising in connection with artificial intelligence or genome editing.

The environment and workplace are included in the Federal Council’s strategy, for wherever people live, work, learn or play, their health is affected by external factors. The environment and workplace are among the most important influences. In line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Federal Council wishes to reduce environmental risks (e.g. air and water pollution), conserve nature and landscapes, and strengthen prevention in industry and the workplace. Health2030 thus also encompasses topics lying outside health policy.

Quality of care, financial sustainability and demographic changes continue to pose major challenges. The Federal Council wishes to ensure long-term care provision, promote healthy ageing, enhance the quality of care, control costs and relieve the burden on low-income households. The efforts pursued by the Federal Council in these areas in recent years are to be continued – for example, the quality strategy, the cost containment programme, or coordinated care and the prevention of non communicable diseases.

Goals and measures

Health2030 defines 8 goals and 16 measures for implementation.

Shared responsibility

Health2030 sets the framework for priority activities at the federal level. However, the success of the strategy also depends on the commitment of all other actors. It is thus important that everyone should be committed to the implementation of Health2030.

Graphics and presentation

Our standard presentation (PPTX, 4 MB, 19.04.2021) on the Health2030 strategy and the individual graphics is available in four languages. They can be found at the bottom of this page under ‘Dokumente’. If you are unable to find what you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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How will the strategy be implemented?

The FOPH and involved federal offices are committed to the sustainable development of the health system in all areas of Health2030. On this page we show exemplary activities.