Sixty-first Regional Committee for Europe: Baku, 12–15 September 2011: draft resolution: the new European policy for health – Health 2020: Vision, values, main directions and approaches

W ORL D H E A LT H O RG A N I Z AT IO N R EG I ON A L O F F I C E FO R EU R O P E Scherfigsvej 8, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark Telephone: +45 39 17 17 17 Fax: +45 39 17 18 18 E-mail: rc@euro.who.int Web: http://www.euro.who.int/en/who-we-are/governance Regional Committee for Europe EUR/RC61/Conf.Doc./2 Rev.1 Sixty-first session Baku, Azerbaijan, 12–15 September 2011 13 September 2011 112524 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH Draft resolution The new European policy for health – Health 2020: Vision, values, main directions and approaches The Regional Committee, Having considered the report on the new European policy for health – Health 2020: vision, values, main directions and approaches;1 Recognizing the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s extensive experience of working on comprehensive approaches to health development, including Health for All, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, HEALTH21, the European environment and health process and the Tallinn Charter: Health Systems, Health and Wealth, and of working with other sectors (including environment, transport, education, justice, finance and agriculture) and with subnational levels of government; Recalling resolution EUR/RC60/R5, which requested the Regional Director to develop a European policy for health – Health 2020 to act as a unifying and coherent action framework to accelerate attainment of better health and well-being for all, adaptable to the realities that make up the European Region; Bearing in mind that this was launched as a two-year process, with the final Health 2020 policy to be presented to the Regional Committee at its sixty-second session in 2012; 1 Document EUR/RC61/9 EUR/RC61/Conf.Doc./2 Rev.1 page 2 Acknowledging past commitments, made through global and regional policies, strategies and plans (as reflected in resolutions and other collective political statements), to address public health challenges in the Region; Noting the Regional Director’s commitment to develop Health 2020 through a highly participatory and inclusive process; Conscious of the essential roles and contributions of various sectors and all levels of government, as well as of international, intergovernmental, nongovernmental and government organizations and bodies, in efforts to address equity in health and well-being in the Region; 1. THANKS the Regional Director for the report on the Health 2020 concept which covers the goals, values, framework and outline of the policy, as well as the main approaches and proposals for targets; 2. AGREES that a new European policy for health should focus in particular on policies and interventions that work and which make the greatest difference to the health and well-being of people in the Region; on policy and technical innovations that hold the greatest promise; on accelerating action to reduce inequalities in health, (amendment proposed by Turkey) with a particular attention to the poorest and most vulnerable groups; on preparing for and anticipating change in the next decade; on supporting and being relevant to all Member States in the Region; and on offering a unifying policy framework for action in which the Regional Office and Member States join forces and work together with international partners; 3. (Amendment proposed by Netherlands, supported by Denmark, Estonia, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Finland, France, Norway, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland) REQUESTS the Regional Director to continue to consult all Member States2 before the sixty-second session of the Regional Committee and to develop, according to the guiding framework as presented at the sixty-first session, taking into account comments made by delegations, the final draft of the Health 2020 policy, with specific written consultations with all Member States in early 2012, in order to ensure adequate time for full responses. 3. ENDORSES the following main goals of the Health 2020 policy: (a) working together: to harness the joint strength of the Member States and the Regional Office to further promote health and well-being, tackle the social 2 And, where applicable, regional economic integration organizations EUR/RC61/Conf.Doc./2 Rev.1 page 3 determinants of health and inequalities in health, and reach out to other sectors and partners in support of this effort; (b) creating the conditions for better health and well-being: to further increase the number of years in which people live in health, improve the quality of life of the people living with chronic disease, reduce inequalities in health and deal with the impact of demographic change; (c) improving governance for health: to leverage the momentous societal changes in favour of health in all policies and strengthen health as a driver of change for sustainable development and well-being by ensuring that heads of government, parliamentarians and key actors and decision-makers in all sectors are aware of their responsibility for health and well-being and for health promotion, protection and security; (d) setting common strategic goals and targets: to support the development of policies and strategies in countries that benefit health and well-being as a joint social objective, at the appropriate level, providing stakeholders and partners with mechanisms for engagement and a clear map of the way forward in tackling the social determinants of health and inequalities in health; (e) accelerating knowledge-sharing: to increase the knowledge base for developing health policy and addressing the social determinants of health by enhancing the capacity of health and other professionals to adapt to the new approach to public health and the demands of person-centred health care in an ageing and multicultural society; making full use of the technological and managerial innovations available to increase impact and improve care; (f) increasing participation: to empower the people of the European Region to be active participants in shaping health policy through civil society organizations, to respond to the health challenges facing them as individuals by increasing health literacy and to ensure their voice in person-centred health systems; 4. FULLY SUPPORTS a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach to developing health and an emphasis on governance for health that focuses on addressing the determinants of health and deals effectively with complexity and uncertainty; 5. AGREES that a new European policy for health (Health 2020), together with measures to strengthen public health policies, strategies, functions and structures, offers an appropriate way to frame cohesive Region-wide action on future health policy; EUR/RC61/Conf.Doc./2 Rev.1 page 4 6. APPROVES the report as an overall guiding framework and concept for further developing and finalizing Health 2020; 7. URGES Member States to collaborate actively in the process of developing and consulting on Health 2020; 8. REQUESTS the Regional Director: (a) to gather the best evidence on the determinants of health and on the causes of ill health and inequalities in health, promoting its use in improving public health practice and solutions that work; (b) to align and integrate within a coherent, overarching and synergistic framework all major existing and new policies, strategies and plans of the Regional Office, including those addressing health systems, strengthening of public health capacity, health security, prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, alcohol, the European environment and health process and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; (c) to consult with and engage a wide range of political, administrative and professional multisectoral and multidisciplinary stakeholders, public entities, civil society organizations and international agencies; (d) to propose ways of strengthening public health leadership at the international, national and subnational levels and of enhancing the role of health ministers and health ministries as advocates of health and well-being through a whole-of- government approach; (e) to emphasize monitoring of and research into the disease burden, as well as risk factors, and dissemination of examples of good practice in developing and implemeting policy responses; (f) to partner with countries in developing Health 2020, in order to strengthen expertise and capacity for tackling key policy and governance challenges; (g) to develop a main document setting out the Health 2020 policy accompanied by other documents addressing specific audiences such as prime ministers, the health sector and other sectors and levels of government, as well as evidence-based tools and best practices to inform capacity-building and accelerate implementation; (h) to engage with all sectors of government to identify how they can best contribute to the attainment of health improvements and the reduction of health inequalities; EUR/RC61/Conf.Doc./2 Rev.1 page 5 (i) to promote renewed political commitment to developing or renewing comprehensive national health policies, strategies and plans, as part of the project driven by WHO’s Global Policy Group, and to ensure that WHO works hand in hand with its Member States to support them in their strategic developments to improve health outcomes and strengthen their public health services.