A long-standing partnership on issues as varied as climate change, digital health, antimicrobial resistance and the health and care workforce, all firmly based on mutual goals of improved public health in Europe, is about to become even stronger.
The agenda was packed when European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Ms Stella Kyriakides, the European Commission’s Director-General for Health and Food Safety Ms Sandra Gallina, and WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge met, along with their respective teams, on 1 February in Brussels, Belgium. Together they reflected on further strengthening their strategic collaboration in the light of current key issues in public health.
Increasingly aligned goals
The meeting saw agreements on closer partnership in priority areas of shared interest, including security against health emergencies and threats; accessible, resilient and innovative health systems; a comprehensive response to noncommunicable diseases with a particular focus on cancer; and cooperation with non-European Union (EU) countries in the WHO European Region, including Member States seeking EU accession, which WHO can assist with aligning national legislation and advancing health reforms.
“In our current complex geopolitical environment, it is even more important to count on a robust multilateral health governance. WHO/Europe is an important strategic partner for the European Commission and, together, we are tackling issues of regional and global concern to improve citizens’ lives,” said Commissioner Kyriakides.
A broad scope of collaboration
The collaboration between the organizations has grown steadily in past years and now extends to several different services and agencies of the European Commission. The COVID-19 pandemic led to even closer cooperation as the health systems of WHO European Member States – 27 of which are also EU Member States – were being put to the test in terms of emergency preparedness and response.
As early as 2020, when the SARS-CoV-2 virus was causing unprecedented societal, economic and cultural havoc in the Region, the European Commission and WHO/Europe issued a joint statement to boost their partnership in the context of COVID-19.
Today, the organizations’ cooperation entails policy alignments, joint standards and norms, support in multilateral fora such as the G20/G7 and other global initiatives on health, joint global and regional events, advocacy on projects promoting universal health coverage and strengthening of health systems, and technical assistance and services in countries. This includes providing assistance in conflict and humanitarian settings, building manufacturing and regulatory capacities, promoting digital solutions and innovations, and building health diplomacy capacities.
Now, joint work in all of these areas will be bolstered.
Growing financial cooperation due to mutual interests
The collaboration between WHO/Europe and the EU is more than just political and technical; it has also translated into growing financial cooperation, with the EU and its Member States top contributors to WHO/Europe.
“The European Commission is our main partner,” explained Dr Kluge. “More important than financial support are the shared values that drive our collaboration. This strategic dialogue is a great opportunity to take stock of our joint work on all these fronts, to discuss the key outcomes of our partnership, but also to agree on areas and directions where we need to accelerate or scale up our cooperation.”