Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
I should now like to submit to you the European Programme of Work – “United Action for Better Health in Europe” to you. If approved, it will orient and transform the work of the WHO Regional Office for Europe between now and 2025.
As you are aware, originally the EPW was to be submitted to the Regional Committee next year, but the Standing Committee of the Regional Committee in November 2019 asked the Secretariat to prepone the submission and submit it to the Regional Committee at its 70th session this year. This was in order to align with the GPW, but even more so to build upon the vision that accompanied the discussions which emerged during my appointment as Regional Director. These discussions happened in a free, frank and friendly atmosphere which really caused us to have discussions rethinking how to work together in an innovative way.
The Member States expressed a clear wish, firstly, for stronger unity and solidarity for better health in the Region; secondly, for more investment in national health leadership; and thirdly, to tackle the inequalities within and between countries by leaving no one behind. Then, building upon those political imperatives, we started to draft the overarching priorities on the basis of what citizens reasonably and legitimately expect from health authorities.
Citizens – people – expect their right to universal health coverage to be guaranteed; second, to be protected from health emergencies; and third, to be able to thrive in healthy communities where public health actions and public policy enable healthier lives towards an economy of well-being.
As we accelerated the development of the EPW, COVID-19 came in, and this necessitated rethinking the place of health in European society. But in fact what happened is that, instead of slowing down, the COVID-19 outbreak accelerated the development of the EPW. First and foremost, it necessitated rethinking what the people expect legitimately from their health authorities in a COVID-19 context, which led to the three priorities and the four flagships: the Mental Health Coalition, digital health and innovation, behavioural insights, and the Immunization 2030 Agenda; which, if approved, can boost political commitment and give much higher visibility to the health sector.
Secondly, COVID-19 refocused our minds on the “how”: how to work better together. The first “how” is focused on country impact; the second “how” is to reorganize the WHO Regional Office for Europe in line with the overarching priorities and the four flagships; and the third “how”, critically, is to work differently with partners, using our influence to ensure that all Member States have a voice in the multiple international fora where health is on the political agenda and using our leverage to rally partner organizations behind agreed priorities, building synergies.
Despite the short time frame, and as Dr Tsoy, our President of the Regional Committee, was saying, we did follow a consultative process first with the Standing Committee of the Regional Committee, then with all 53 Member States, a very productive session with the European Commission, the central and eastern European initiatives, the staff, the United Nations agencies and also a special session with non-State actors, civil society. That’s why I feel that, across the European health landscape, there is a strong sense of ownership of the EPW.
Therefore, I am submitting to you the European Programme of Work, 2020–2025 for your approval and endorsement.
Thank you.