Everyone should be able to be part of a healthy and caring society.

Welcome to the international webpage of the Department of Care. Here you can find information on the department and our policy that is available in English. 

We will continue to add information to this page as we go along.

Flanders is the northern part of Belgium. Belgium is a federal state composed of three regions (territorial matters) and three communities (person-related matters). Every level has its own legislative competence. There is no hierarchy of norms between federal and regional and community legislation.

Six consecutive state reforms have resulted in a continuous devolution of competences to the federated levels.

• Some competences are exclusive with the federal government (Foreign affairs, Defence, Justice, Fiscal Policy, Domestic Affairs, Social Security)
• Others are fully community (person-related) matters (education, cultural affairs, language, …) or regional (territorial related) matters (agriculture, environment, …).

The competency for health policy is shared between the federal level and the communities. This gives a complex situation with multiple governments and ministers. The Flemish minister for Public Health, Welfare and Family covers health and social care, which on an administrational level, is included by the Department of Care.

• Solidarity in financing
• Freedom of choice for patients (no gatekeeping)
• Therapeutic freedom and independency for physicians 
• State controlled, executed by private not-for-profit:
  • the majority of physicians are independent and self-employed
  • the majority of hospital are private and not-for-profit
• Fee-for-service payments
• Out-of-pocket cost: At 18%, the out-of-pocket spending cost in Belgium is similar to the OECD average of 18%.

Flanders has a population of 6,8 million inhabitants. The young (< 18y) and the old (> 65y) are almost the same in number, each group counting approximately 1,3 million people. The Flemish population knows a slight yearly growth: 1,1% in the last year; 14% in the last 20 years. Current projections until 2035 predict a continuing of this slight increase  . 

Flanders is a very densely populated region with almost 500 inhabitants per km².  We have a high life expectancy at birth: 80,4 for men and 85 for women. The leading cause of death for men in 2020 was cancer and other neoplasms (26%); for women cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death (23%). We detect two main groups of people with a care need in Flanders: young people with mental health issues and elderly people with chronic diseases. 

Both population growth and increasing population density present several challenges. For some sectors, global population growth is an important factor in the evolution of the demand for care and support. The increasing population density and concomitant urbanisation also poses challenges to keeping our living environment 'healthy'. 

Family dilution and the growing number of people living alone present several challenges. Among other things, the thinning of families is associated with a declining potential of informal care. For the growing group of people living alone, they appear to have a more vulnerable profile than cohabitants in several areas. For instance, compared to cohabitants, people living alone report depressive symptoms or feelings of loneliness more often.  People living alone are also more likely than cohabitants to experience a long-term illness or disability, experience poorer subjective health. Moreover, they have a more limited family income and, partly as a result, are more likely to live in subjective poverty.
 

If you wish to reside permanently in Flanders and exercise a healthcare profession, you first have to request recognition or have your diploma declared to be equivalent.

Request recognition for your healthcare profession from the Government of Flanders, the Department of Care if you:

• have a diploma for your healthcare profession and wish to permanently exercise your profession in Belgium.
• obtained your diploma in one of the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland. The European Economic Area is composed of the 28 Member States of the European Union and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
• or your diploma is deemed to be equivalent in a country of the EEA and you are a European national.