April 29th, 2021

Congratulations to Francesco Macchia, our new Vice-President!

Francesco Macchia was appointed as Vice-President of EHFCN on March 23, 2021, during the EHFCN General Assembly. We congratulate him on his appointment and wish him every success!

Francesco Macchia is President of ISPE Sanità (Istituto per la Promozione dell’Etica in sanità) (Rome, Italy).

Francesco: “Corruption, fraud and waste in Healthcare not only represent a distraction of resources to the detriment of the public system, but subtract opportunities of treatment and care of patients by weakening a fundamental axis of any modern welfare system such as the public healthcare system. The health crisis we are experiencing has put a strain on all European healthcare systems but has also basically demonstrated their value and the ability to work to protect our health and it is enough to look at different realities outside the EU to grasp the evidence.

I firmly believe that our systems must be defended by fighting corruption, fraud and waste and that the battle against these threats must find strong supranational coordination because the mechanisms and dynamics with which these crimes are perpetrated are similar across the various European states. I am convinced that EHCFN represents, with its history, its excellence and the shared competence of its many partners, a unicum at European level and a true excellence in this area and I am really happy and proud to have the opportunity to serve the network as a Vice-Present.

I had the pleasure to act as an extra-ordinary member of the Executive Committee in 2017 and as an ordinary member since May 2018. In this period I have deeply known the beauty and complexity of this extraordinary Network in such a way that I feel I can now bring all my added value. I believe I now finally have the necessary experience and still all the enthusiasm to continue to serve the Network as Vice-President. My vision of the network is that of an ever wider team, technically ever stronger and more and more anchored to the European institutions.

The Network in which I believe must increasingly establish itself as a center of knowledge and to do so it should participate in calls and projects that project it alongside the European institutions. The Network in which I believe must weave a network between all stakeholders, public and private, interested in healthcare issues and become the promoter and coordinator of a transversal and continuous commitment in the fight against corruption, fraud and waste.

One of the first major challenges for the Network will be posed by the massive resources that the EU has made available to member states to strengthen the health systems tested by the pandemic: EHFCN will have to promote careful monitoring of the use of these funds to avoid that end up being dispersed in non-productive streams. We face really important challenges as a Network, probably the most severe in our history, and I am sure that alongside the President, the Managing Director and the Executive Committee I will be able to make my small contribution for the good of the Network and the health of all European countries.”

Francesco Macchia, Vice-President of EHFCN