Published: 17 January 2022

EU4Health work programme now published: €835 million in funding available 

The 2022 work programme under EU4Health is now published, offering a budget of €835 million to support European policies that seek to improve healthcare systems and patient outcomes. 

This year’s programme puts a considerable focus on crisis preparedness, with almost half (€380m) of this annual budget allocated to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and support pandemic responsiveness. Of this, €275m has been ring-fenced to address urgent health needs identified by the new European Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) who work to prevent, detect, and respond to health emergencies. 

Other key priorities include health promotion and disease prevention, with over €90m set aside to drive decisive action in the fight against cancer and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), as well as a marked commitment to increasing awareness, knowledge sharing and capacity building in the area of mental health. 

2022: bigger budget and more funding available per call

This year’s work programme offers two types of funding possibilities - grants and tenders, which are open to organisations across all sectors, including research, academic and healthcare institutions. 

In addition to offering a larger budget, the 2022 programme also allows applicants to apply for a higher amount of funding (up to €30m per call). In addition, funding opportunities are more evenly distributed across each of the four key strands of the programme - all of which have a cross-cutting focus on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The four strands are: 

1. Crisis preparedness and preventing shortages of medicines.
2. Disease prevention, early detection and health promotion. 
3. Reforming and strengthening health systems and the healthcare workforce.
4. Health digitalisation and preparing for a European Health Data Space. 

Funding priorities for grants 

10 calls for action grants are due this year, to the value of over €130m, with the first wave of calls expected to open in the coming months. These calls will be particularly relevant to the public health sector as well as cancer professionals. Some of the main areas that will be funded include: 

• Increasing efficiency of large-scale vaccination against COVID-19.
• Prevention of cancer and other non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and mental health).
• Innovative approaches to screening prostrate, lung and gastric cancer.
• Development of training packages to support the health workforce.

Funding priorities for tenders  

The 2022 programme will also offer over 20 procurement opportunities, totalling €300m. They will seek to improve public health through a number of specific measures. These include studies that relate to Europe’s Beating Cancer plan such as: 

• Survivorship;
• Childhood obesity;
• Tobacco control and alcohol health information. 

Tenders will also be available in the areas of in-vitro diagnostics, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), medical devices, and improving access to healthcare for people with disabilities. 

More information 

On 20 January, the European Commission will run an information session on the new work programme and its upcoming calls. Register or learn more here.  

For one-to-one advice and guidance on all things EU4Health, please contact Amanda Daly, National Focal Point (NFP) for EU4Health by email to amanda.daly@hrb.ie or call +353 85 8620938 for dedicated end-to-end support developing your proposal and guidance with all aspects of your submission including: 

• identifying the right call for you
• finding project partners
• navigating the application process and writing your proposal 

HRB webinars to explore the work programme

This year, the HRB will host a series of webinars to share a better understanding of the new programme and its funding opportunities. Visit our news and twitter page for more information coming soon. 

Who can apply?

EU4Health funds projects by institutions, professional bodies and organisations in Ireland. Individuals are not eligible to apply. View the full list of entities that are eligible to apply on our dedicated EU4Health information page. 

Background on EU4Health & our role in the programme

Launched last year, EU4Health 2021-27 is the EU’s largest and most ambitious public health funding programme to date. At EU-level, it seeks to fund organisations who are working to prepare healthcare systems for future health emergencies and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on longer-term health challenges.  

As Ireland’s lead funding agency in health research, the HRB is committed to ensuring that data and evidence are used in policy and practice to overcome health challenges, advance health systems, and benefit society and the economy. As part of this commitment, we are taking a lead role in providing dedicated advice and guidance to Irish institutions and organisations across all sectors who wish to apply for funding under the EU4Health programme.