NGOs/ CBOs have emerged as an integral pillar of both global and national governance, and are recognized as such by the official institutions founded after World War II. This is evident from the important gaps they are called upon to fill, their formal partnerships with international organizations and national governments, and the funding they manage for this purpose. Global health is perhaps the area where NGO activity has made the biggest difference. Over the last two decades, however, issues of transparency, effectiveness and, in some cases, legitimacy of their activities have arisen. This policy brief examines the circumstances that have led to the consolidation of NGOs in the international stage, and the reasons why their existence is vital. Finally, a framework that will restore and strengthen their credibility is envisaged, which in turn could potentially enhance their effectiveness too.

Medical tourism is a rapidly growing sector, and could become a major driver of tourism in Greece. This research examines the status quo and the potential of medical tourism on the island of Crete, Greece. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2021 to February 2022, with the administration of questionnaires. The study involved the participation of 97 hotel managers from four- and five-star hotels, 515 doctors representing various specialties, and 890 medical tourists. Hotel managers overwhelmingly (90+%) believe that medical tourism can significantly contribute to the domestic economy, as well as that the domestic market is ready for the provision of medical tourism services on a larger scale, while more than 70% of the tourists asked would be interested in travelling to Greece to receive medical treatment. IVF, eye surgery, and dental services are the ones that would interest tourists the most, which are also aligned with the services commonly provided by the doctors questioned. Thus, according to the perspectives of doctors, hotel managers, and tourists, medical tourism has the capacity to grow significantly and contribute to the development of the Greek economy. The government should assume a supportive role, facilitating medical tourism processes by addressing the administrative, financial, and promotional aspects.

As vaccinations against Covid-19 move forward and the health crisis will eventually reside, focus will ultimately turn solely on the economic consequences of the pandemic. Having faced a serious economic turmoil during the past decade and with the perceptions about the role of the welfare state having changed drastically in the meantime, the European Union needs to learn from its mistakes in dealing with such crises and ensure sustainable recovery for its members. In this paper, the correlation between social protection expenditure, income inequality and poverty is examined, as well as the GDP and the employment rates, using the Eurostat database for the period 2007 – 2017 (subject to data availability). By attempting to identify the mechanisms that could lead to such results, the aim of the policy brief is to paint a realistic picture of the role of social protection in the European economies. Among other things, the results show that social protection expenditure correlates positively with employment rates and the GDP per capita, and negatively with income inequality and poverty. We conclude that the welfare state retrenchment during the Eurozone crisis deepened the recession and probably led to long-term adverse effects, broadening the gap between the North and the South. Building on the measures taken during the pandemic to protect employment and the economy, post-pandemic recovery policies should focus on rebuilding strong welfare states, directly create jobs and aim at the convergence of the economies through expansionary policies and growth.

The EU National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" includes, among other priorities, a framework to promote and reform the health system, with a focus on digitalization of health and the use of information technology applications. Greece 2.0 may offer a chance to address the current scarcity of high-quality, reliable data sources, which is limiting the spread and impact of health economics and outcomes research (HEOR). We also suspect that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in HEOR will play an important role in Greece's health-care reform and that it will be critical for making real-world data-driven decisions, reducing policy uncertainty. Greece has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to start from scratch and potentially build data-centric AI systems that prioritise data quality over quantity and are built on scalable, flexible, and governable data collection. This commentary explains and critically considers the significance of developing and funding an innovative plan for using AI in HEOR as part of the Greece 2.0 framework. It also discusses ethical issues and the larger role of HEOR in health-care reform.

Background: Development Assistance for Health (DAH) plays a vital role in health financing across Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in tackling communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Despite its importance, the efficiency and equity of DAH allocation remain contested. Objectives: The study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of DAH in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1995 to 2018, as well as to explore differences in efficiency across diseases and country contexts. Methods: Data were drawn from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and applied Generalized Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in conjunction with the Gross Domestic Product-based thresholds. Averted Disability-Adjusted Life Years were analyzed across countries and diseases, and countries were categorized by the Human Development Index (HDI) level to assess differential DAH performance. Results: DAH cost-effectiveness showed similar patterns across HDI groups, with roughly equal proportions of cost-effective and dominated outcomes in both low- and middle-HDI countries. Thirteen countries were identified as very cost-effective, nine as cost-effective, and two as non-cost-effective. Twenty-one countries were dominated, reflecting persistent inefficiencies in aid impact that transcends the various levels of development. Conclusions: Tailoring DAH allocation to specific disease burdens and development levels enhances its impact. The study underscores the need for targeted investment and a strategic shift toward integrated health system strengthening. Additionally, microinsurance is highlighted as a key mechanism for improving healthcare access and financial protection in low-income settings.

Once again, the EMU faces an economic crisis, this time caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. To avoid the mistakes of the insufficient response to the global financial crisis, it is vital that this time the focus will turn on achieving fast, sustainable recovery, instead of contractionary measures that would hinder recovery and long-term growth. This paper briefly presents the basic elements of the Post-Keynesian / Post-Kaleckian framework of analysis for the economic regimes. The concept of the wage-led and profit-led regimes is addressed, based on which it can be assessed what kind of policies are needed in an economy to promote sustainable, long-term growth. As the relevant literature finds that the Euro Area as a whole and most of the Eurozone members are wage-led, it is concluded that the EU needs to design and implement policies that will strengthen the labor share and address the long-standing problem of unemployment. Given the need to counter climate change, the proposed policies should be coordinated and used as tool to achieve the goals set by the European Green Deal.