Implementing the Health 2020 vision in countries with small populations: meeting report of the first high-level meeting of small countries, San Marino, 3–4 July 2014

Overview

The Small Countries project focuses on the strategic objectives of Health 2020, and its values and principles foraction to improve population health and well-being, reduce health inequities and build more equitable, cohesiveand sustainable societies in countries with small populations. The First High-level Meeting of Small Countries servedas a forum to share information on small countries’ experiences, lessons learnt and plans related to Health 2020implementation, and to discuss how to advance the collaboration among small countries. Experiences shared showedthat small countries have advantages, such as strong social cohesion, as well as disadvantages, such as facing thesame challenges as large countries, but with less capacity. Solutions for such challenges are highlighted in this report.Additionally, the meeting stressed the importance of documenting how to align national health policies to Health2020; the benefits of joint capacity-building events and structures between the Regional Office and small countries;how better engagement of the media leads to a supportive environment for Health 2020; and the need for a platformto share experiences and mutual learning about Health 2020 implementation.