More than three-quarters of Austrians expect that in the coming years there will be restrictions on the services provided by health insurance funds. “The outlook is bleak,” said Reinhard Raml from the IFES Institute on Wednesday in Vienna at the presentation of the Austrian Health Report 2025, commissioned by the pharmaceutical company Sandoz. Trust in the current healthcare system is also “seriously shaken.” Concerns remain about persistent medicine shortages.
In total, 80 percent of the roughly 1,000 people surveyed in July believe “definitely” or “rather likely” that politicians will make significant cuts in healthcare. Almost as many fear that in the future one will need private supplementary insurance to receive good medical care. Raml spoke of a feeling of “having to buy better quality and faster treatment.” Only “half are satisfied” with the current healthcare system, explained the IFES director, “the other half not at all or only slightly.”
Health perception worse than before COVID-19
As in previous years, the Austrian Health Report also asked respondents to assess their general health. Around 20 percent, similar to 2024, rated themselves “very good” and almost 50 percent “good.” However, that is less than before COVID-19. The pandemic has “led to a deterioration in subjective health,” stressed Raml. Younger people also assess their mental health as considerably more limited than older generations.
According to the survey, 64 percent feel strongly to moderately threatened by prolonged shortages of medicines. Eighty-six percent consider it “very” or “rather” important that medicines are also produced in Austria. “We live in a time of geopolitical upheaval,” said Walter Feichtinger, president of the Center for Strategic Analysis in Vienna. Political rivals could exert pressure on Western governments highly dependent on imports by manipulating energy and medicine supplies. Europe must “look after itself” and become “more autonomous, independent, and self-reliant.”
Drug production in Europe a question of price
For about five years, shortages have become increasingly noticeable, explained Ulrike Holzgrabe, professor at the University of Würzburg in Germany. Sixty-eight percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients are produced in India and China, and only 24 percent in Europe, said the expert on strategic resilience in pharmaceutical production. Bringing production back is difficult, and with the EU’s Critical Medicines Act—focused on stockpiling and early warning systems—too little has been done so far in this direction.
“We spend too little on the production of medicines,” said Holzgrabe. Marco Pucci, president of Sandoz in Austria, agreed. “Our strategy is always to produce in Europe for Europe,” he assured. The international pharmaceutical company operates in Kundl, Tyrol, the “last major production site for penicillin in Europe.” He called for measures at both European and national levels—for example, a “paradigm shift away from the lowest-price principle toward the best-price principle,” as well as price adjustments for medicines in line with inflation.
