WHO European Ministerial Conference on Health Systems: Health Systems, Health and Wealth
Tallinn, Estonia, 25–27 June 2008
"....Many factors influence people’s health, including their genetic make-up, lifestyle, the environment in which they live, their income and social status, their education and gender.
Another determinant of health, which is increasingly recognized as very important, is the health system. A health system is generally understood to comprise the resources, organizations and institutions whose primary aim is to improve, maintain or restore health. This includes both health care services and the broader infrastructure of people, technologies, financing, regulation and education, as well as the arrangements for governance of the system, including engaging other sectors in improving health.
The new challenges include:
- Health systems face new challenges in being effective, responsive and fair.
- The cost of providing health services is rising in real terms.
- People today are better informed, expect more from health systems and are increasingly mobile.
- Throughout the WHO European Region, the population is ageing.
- There are also larger/increasing socioeconomic disparities within populations, creating vulnerable groups with fewer resources and greater health needs.
- New technological advances offer opportunities to improve health, but must be introduced in an appropriate way.
- The emergence of several previously unknown or potentially threatening diseases, such as pandemic influenza, must be addressed.
This event runs from Wednesday, 25 June - Friday 27 June 2008 from 09:00 to 18:00 Eastern European Summer Time (EEST).
It will also cover a pre-event workshop will be held on “performance assessment for health systems improvement” on Tuesday 24 June 20008 from 13:30 to 18:00. The entire Conference will be webcast through a live and on-demand interactive site, including daily bulletins and expert interviews.