Health: what cross-border cooperation objectives for border regions?

At the end of 2023, the regional health plans (SRS) and the regional programmes for access to prevention and care for the most disadvantaged people (PRAPS) were revised at mid-term for the period 2023-2028 in most regions, and it was within this framework that the metropolitan border regions were able to rethink their cross-border cooperation objectives in the field of health.  

In concrete terms, apart from the Bourgogne Franche-Comté region, whose SRS has a section on Franco-Swiss cooperation in the field of health in its own right, the other border regions have endeavoured to consider the new objectives of their SRSs in the field of cross-border cooperation in the light of the existing achievements.

The two main objectives found in the majority of SNSs on our borders concern :  

• continuity of access to healthcare, in particular through the development of cooperation in healthcare aimed at bringing concrete and direct benefits to cross-border patients, by enabling them to benefit from high-quality care as close as possible to where they live,
• and increasing the efficiency and coordination of the healthcare response to exceptional health situations.  

In addition, and more specifically, the SRS aim to continue signing cross-border emergency medical aid agreements (Grand Est, Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions), as well as cross-border training and observation (Grand Est, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Occitanie regions), and cross-border consideration and care of disability and socio–medical issues (Hauts-de-France, Grand Est and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions). In particular, the Occitanie region plans to work on simplifying cross-border medical recruitment by reducing administrative formalities for mutual recognition of diplomas, following studies carried out with the support of the MOT. 

Lastly, the PACA region presents a special situation in that, in the absence of a framework agreement for cross-border cooperation in the field of health, its SRS has very little scope for developing cross-border issues. In fact, cross-border issues are mentioned only twice: firstly, with regard to cross-border crisis management, coordination which involves strengthening the land-sea interface in conjunction with the Préfecture Maritime and the sea rescue services, particularly in the case of reception of migrants by sea, and secondly, to highlight the need for cooperation with the specific players involved in healthcare in the region, including Italy and Monaco, in the interests of continuity and efficiency. 

^{Photo : Shutterstoc / Robert Kneschke}