Geriatric medicine in the European Union: towards unification of diversity
The European Union (EU) has provided a certain amount of integration between the member states in terms of laws, trade, and governmental policies. Life expectancy has been increasing regularly in all EU Member States in recent decades due to the decline in infant mortality rates and mortality rates for older people, with considerable differences among countries. Healthcare systems in the EU are financed in two broad ways: through general taxation or using systems based on social health insurance, although in highly variable proportions. Geriatric medicine is recognised in most European countries either as a standalone specialty or as a subspecialty of internal medicine. Geriatric medical care is also extremely diverse within the EU. Unfortunately, there are no reliable data on the number of geriatricians in different countries. The UEMS-GM has provided a consensus definition of geriatric medicine and documents on accreditation for specialist training and undergraduate training in cooperation with the European organisations.