The second day of the Regional Committee kicked off with an address by the Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid, who stated that the Regional Committee offers a chance to showcase Israel’s robust health care system to the world and that the country looks forward to continuing its cooperation with Member States.
Following this, the Regional Director responded to various points raised during the discussions on the first day. He recognized the widespread support from delegates for the dual-track approach outlined during his address, while highlighting the need to continue responding to existing health emergencies.
Furthermore, the Regional Director thanked the President of Israel for his and the First Lady’s support for WHO/Europe’s work in mental health and noted the positive comments from delegates on other flagship initiatives of the European Programme of Work, including behavioural and cultural insights, digital health, and immunization.
Investment for Health: the well-being economy
This parallel session discussed ways in which the WHO/Europe initiative to invest in healthy, caring, prosperous societies can enable more countries and partners to:
- show how health and public health services are driving the economy of well-being;
- learn how government investment and spending on well-being policies can be increased;
- understand how new alliances can help to close gaps in care and reduce health vulnerability; and
- create an enabling environment for well-being investments between the health, finance, and economy sectors, also by partnering with development and reconstruction banks.
Building Urban Futures Better
This event explored how cities can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, building resiliency also in the face of global environmental and climate change challenges. Cities are hubs of transformation leading to better, more sustainable and resilient societies – with huge benefits to the environment and to citizens. Risk-informed planning, engaging civil society, intersectoral collaboration and nature-based solutions can help to establish resilient and sustainable cities with higher quality of life, while reducing demands on national health systems. The session highlighted the need to future-proof our cities by applying learning from the pandemic experience and One Health approaches that seek to bring together policy at the nexus of people, the environment and animal health.
A resounding YES on digital health
In adopting a resolution on digital health sponsored by Israel, delegates recognized the importance of digital solutions in making health care more people-centred and helping Member States to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Digital health is one of the four flagship initiatives of the European Programme of Work.
Speaking on behalf of the European Union Member States, the Czech Republic welcomed the action plan approved under the resolution, noting that digital health has become indispensable, but integrating digital solutions in policy-making for health remains a challenge. Other Member States stated that digital health has the potential to transform health care around the world but comes with no instruction manual, making collaboration between countries all the more important.
Several Member States also highlighted that digital health will not always be able to replace face-to-face consultations, and that providing citizens with full access to their own data was paramount. Some delegates also underlined the importance of breaking down silos in digital health: for example, an individual should be able to have an urgent X-ray taken during holiday or travel, and the patient’s home doctor should be able to access it in their country of origin upon their return.
Achieving the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities
During this session delegates discussed the WHO European framework for action to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities, 2022–2030, underlining that this is a right for all, without discrimination.
The President of the European Disability Forum, Ioannis Vardakastanis, noted that barriers to health-care services often relate to attitudes that undermine people with disabilities, compromising accessibility of health services and disregarding fundamental rights. Anne Rabbitte, Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and at the Department of Health, stressed that people with disabilities face social barriers in terms of rights – which means that solutions for people with disabilities are not the sole responsibility of health authorities.
During the debate Member States underscored:
- the need for all countries to ensure that people with disabilities can access health care without discrimination;
- that disability inclusion should become part of our preparedness for future emergencies; and
- the crucial role of digital and assistive technology to help people with disabilities to live in their own homes and communities, with individual needs and rights at the heart of all services.
European regional action framework for behavioural and cultural insights for health, 2022–2027
Behavioural and cultural insights are a flagship initiative of the European Programme of Work, and on day two of this Regional Committee session, Member States adopted an action framework to drive work in this area until 2027. The flagship’s framework calls on Member States to make use of behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) for effective, tailored, equitable, sustainable and people-centred health policies.
Opening the session on BCI, WHO/Europe’s Executive Director Robb Butler explained that many persistent health challenges involve human behaviour. One such example, laid out by Professor Dame Sally Davis, former Chief Medical Officer for England, focused on informing GPs who were high antibiotic prescribers of their status, which led to 73 000 fewer antibiotic prescriptions. Professor David Halpern, Chief Executive of the United Kingdom’s Behavioural Insights Team, emphasized to delegates the importance of making behavioural interventions easy, attractive, social and timely (EAST).
During discussions, Member States welcomed the action framework and identified examples of using BCI to shape health responses, including for vaccination campaigns, tackling alcohol consumption and nutritional labelling.
Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response
With a clear need for stronger cooperation to face future pandemics, this parallel session gathered delegates to brainstorm on several themes around the INB on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Delegates welcomed the historic opportunity to improve the response to health emergencies, while emphasizing issues such as the need to keep the general public, non-State actors and industry stakeholders informed. Attendees raised concerns about misinformation on the aims of the INB and highlighted the importance of ensuring that ministries of health are reflected in the negotiation process. Consultations with WHO Member States will continue and a conceptual zero draft outlining the way forward will be considered in December 2022.
Post COVID-19 condition (long COVID)
During this parallel session, co-organized by WHO/Europe and Long COVID Europe, delegates, members of civil society and experts discussed the need to recognize and support people living with long COVID. At the same time, they also asserted the importance of ongoing studies and research to better understand this new condition, which still has many unknowns. The need for rehabilitation and mental health support for the millions of people living with long COVID was also underlined.
Regional action plans for ending AIDS and the epidemics of viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, 2022–2030; and tuberculosis, 2023–2030
During the ministerial lunch, delegates discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the continued provision of essential services across the Region in the areas of AIDS, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, as well as tuberculosis. The action plans will be further discussed on the third day of the Regional Committee session.
Strengthening health emergency preparedness, response and resilience: lessons learned and building back better
The session focused on ongoing health emergencies in the Region: the COVID-19 pandemic, the monkeypox outbreak, and the health emergency resulting from the war in Ukraine. Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, WHO Regional Emergency Director, provided a global perspective: 310 million people around the world are in need of humanitarian aid, with WHO responding to 47 graded emergencies worldwide – of which eight are graded as acute.
During the session, held against the background of discussions on the reform of the international architecture for health emergency preparedness and response, including the INB on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, several Member States and international partners took the floor, welcoming a new preparedness plan for the WHO European Region, strengthening international cooperation and resilience. Many delegates, however, stressed the need for a European strategy to be aligned with the G7 as well as with global processes.