Stagnant economies are driving governments to introduce cost containing health reforms but the “huge squeeze” on health budgets “need not have an adverse effect on front line services,” said Andrew Dillon, chief executive of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), at a recent conference in Geneva.

“In the UK we have been told we must make savings of 15-20%, and this is predicted to rise to 40%,” Dillon told the conference, which was convened by the Economist to consider how European countries could sustain their health systems.

“This can be achieved and the quality of care …