Overview

• The Health Ministers’ Conference opened in Weimar under Thüringen’s chairmanship, where state officials pressed for a follow-up to the 2020 €4 billion public health services funding package.
• That pandemic-era funding created up to 5,000 new roles and fast-tracked digitalization in health offices, yet many local departments remain understaffed.
• Thüringen notes 117 vacant general practitioner positions and argues that public health services provide vital low-threshold care in areas with doctor shortages.
• In their coalition agreement, the CDU and SPD pledged to examine further federal, state and local support structures for public health services.
• New Federal Health Minister Nina Warken attended the meeting as states seek binding financial commitments to maintain immunization, hygiene and prevention measures.