All Previous Events

Ukraine has become a new battleground between east and west - perhaps the first big tussle of a new cold war. Is this just powerpolitics, cynically dressed up in the language of democracy and freedom? Or is the real story Russian imperialism reborn, with every reason to stop the Kremlin meddling in the affairs of its neighbours? Given the EU's unwillingness to countenance Ukrainian membership, is outside encouragement for pro-western politicians hypocritical?

Science is driven by curiosity.Would any attempt to put that under greater public scrutiny deaden scientific inquiry or must scientists now come to terms with the fears and priorities of society at large? And is public accountability a meaningful concept in science? Scientists may not know what they are going to discover when they start experimenting or to what use it may ultimately be put. Are the public qualified to determine the priorities of scientific research? Is that untrammelled freedom for science out of date and dangerous?

Reference pricing – a system of fixed reimbursements for pharmaceuticals in which governments price a drug with reference to the cheapest drug in the same category -promises tremendous savings with no cost in terms of quality of healthcare. The reality, however, may be quite different. Critics argue that reference pricing treats patients as homogenous beings, that it leads to no real saving, and that it discourages investment in new therapies.

With the Belgian government debating whether to adopt the Kiwi version of reference pricing, John Graham, former director of Health and Pharmaceutical Policy at the Canadian think tank, the Fraser Institute and author of The Fantasy of Reference Pricing, and Yolande Avontroodt, a prominent Belgian MP and member of the Committee on Public Health addressed the key issues of reference pricing – what it is, what it will mean for Belgians and, indeed, all who choose to adopt reference pricing.

Public welfare often clashes with private reference - in policy on drugs, obesity and even parenting. Yet bad choices - in diet and lifestyle impose costs and inconvenience on our fellow citizens. So has the nanny state already gone too far or are we still scandalously neglectful of the common good?

The health consumer is already knocking on Europe’s door but how can European consumers move from a position of weakness to a position of strength? What are the lessons from other nations where consumers have been empowered? Johan Hjertqvist is a policy innovator with direct practical experience of shaping a consumer-focused healthcare reform in Sweden known as The Stockholm Revolution. He will talk about what is needed to make European healthcare truly consumer focused and will explain the thinking behind the creation of the Health Consumer Index, a practical tool for evaluating how consumers are met by their health systems and where progress still needs to be made.

Every industrialised country is wrestling with the challenges that technology, ageing and endless cost increases pose for their national health systems, and Canada is no exception. One of Canada’s most prominent health care reformers talks about these questions. How does Canada balance efficiency in healthcare with social solidarity? Are Canadians more satisfied with their healthcare arrangements than Europeans? What are the lessons for Belgium and for Europe as a whole? Is the traditional welfare state model sustainable in the 21st century?

Big business is in the dock. Huge malfeasance scandals and the growth in anti-capitalist activism have thrown corporations into the spotlight and left them seeming more unpopular than ever before. But who is to blame? And who is acting as judge and jury? Is this an inevitable consequence of capitalism or should policymakers be thinking about new ways of addressing business failure? Is business becoming too timid and apologetic in the face of public criticism? Should companies really be cheerleaders for capitalism or is the growth of corporate and social responsibility evidence of a new way of doing business?