Breast cancer screening, heatwaves and care all made it into Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech on Wednesday, giving health a presence across several of her priorities. Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi now wants the Commission to move faster on the health proposals already in the pipeline.

Ursula von der Leyen named health one of five priority sectors for industrial artificial intelligence (AI) in her State of the Union address on 16 September.

“We need AI for health. But, here again, we must do it in a European way,” the Commission President told the European Parliament.

She also announced a European Heatwave Plan and a European Care Deal. Health had no dedicated section in the speech. It instead surfaced in passages on AI, climate, social rights and children online.

Breast cancer as an example

Von der Leyen pointed to breast cancer screening as an example of how AI could be used in healthcare. “Mammography screening reduces mortality by around 30 – 40 % among women who attend the screenings,” she said. “AI-supported mammography can identify earlier and more cancers during screening. And as a result more women can survive.”

The point is that AI needs to empower our doctors. Not to replace them.
— Ursula von der Leyen

She drew a line on the role of machines. “I do not want a robot to tell me whether I have cancer or not,” she said. “The point is that AI needs to empower our doctors. Not to replace them.”

Várhelyi: the building blocks are in place

Health is one of five sectors covered by the Commission’s planned industrial AI initiatives, alongside transport, agri-food, advanced manufacturing, and defence and space. The Commission is due to announce “game-changing initiatives” across the sectors in November

Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, saw “a strong message for health” in the speech. “The principle is clear: AI should empower our doctors, not replace them,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

He also linked the speech to the Health Package the Commission proposed last December. “And we are already putting the building blocks in place,” he wrote.

While von der Leyen did not name specific health files, Várhelyi pointed to several already under development. The Biotech Act “will help accelerate clinical trials, improve access to investment and enable better use of AI and health data”. The revision of the medical devices rules “will create clearer, more predictable pathways for innovative and AI-enabled technologies to reach patients safely and faster”.

He also named the Safe Hearts Plan, which “puts prevention, earlier detection and personalised approaches at the centre of cardiovascular health”. The European Health Data Space, he wrote, provides “the trusted foundation for better use of Europe’s health data for research & innovation”.

35,000 deaths and a heatwave plan

Von der Leyen described this summer as “the summer of truth”. “More than 35 000 additional deaths during the heatwaves. Care homes and hospitals dangerously overheated. And all of this is a mere preview,” she said.

“There can be no repeat of this summer. This is why we will also soon present a European Heatwave Plan,” she said. “We need better early warning systems and better health preparedness.”

There can be no repeat of this summer.
— Ursula Von der Leyen

The Commission is also due to present a new climate resilience framework next month. It will identify “100 of the most vulnerable territories in Europe”.

Várhelyi pointed to earlier work. This summer, the EU Health Security Committee set out recommendations on heat, he wrote. They include “stronger and regularly tested Heat–Health Action Plans, better coordination & early warnings, support for healthcare professionals, clearer public guidance & better heat-health data”.

Children, screens and a new law

Health also featured indirectly in von der Leyen’s remarks on children and social media. “Young Europeans now spend four to six hours per day on screens,” she said. Parents see “loss of sleep, anxiety, even self-harm”.

The Commission will propose an EU Kids Act the day after the speech. “No social media under the age of 13. No personal account under the age of 15,” she said. Platforms “will have to prove that they are safe”.

Von der Leyen also announced a European Care Deal to address the pressures created by demographic change. She gave no timeline for the initiative, saying only that “care is not a privilege”.

Speed, and what the speech left out

Várhelyi’s response focused less on new announcements than on implementation. “We now need to move faster on the proposals already on the table & deliver results for patients,” he wrote.

He quoted the Commission president: “In today’s economy, speed is of the essence.” In the speech, she used that line about the Single Market and permitting.

The speech also left several major health files unmentioned, including the Critical Medicines Act, pharmaceutical reform, medicine shortages and the EU4Health programme. The Critical Medicines Act and pharmaceutical reform are both within Várhelyi’s portfolio.

The AI initiatives for health are due in November. The Heatwave Plan has no date yet, only “soon”.