At the 26th Regions for Health Network (RHN) annual meeting, 80 speakers from 15 countries and 26 regions, along with numerous international partners, discussed key future priorities, COVID-19, and climate change and the environment. Hosted by the Government of Moscow, the 4-day meeting took place online and marked the first time that RHN had met since the European Programme of Work 2020–2025 – “United Action for Better Health in Europe” was endorsed.
Opening this year’s session, WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, thanked the Government of Moscow for its cooperation and said: “Two years into a pandemic, there is now a general understanding that health is not a stand-alone issue. It is a prerequisite for the well-being and resilience of societies and economies – and therefore needs to permeate all agendas: political, environmental, scientific, economic and social”.
In his response, the Deputy Mayor of Moscow, Mr Peter Biryukov, stated that “cooperation between WHO, Russia and Moscow will continue and become an instrument for exchanging experience with leading regions across Europe to reach our key common goals: ensuring good health, active lifestyles and the well-being of citizens”.
Evidence on COVID-19 health system response and recovery
During the pandemic, RHN has organized 44 webinars covering all aspects of the global COVID-19 crisis. The annual meeting was the occasion to plan for a longer-term health systems response, and highlight best practice, this included:
- the evolution of primary health care towards a combination of service delivery platforms, with more integration between mobile and remote support and multidisciplinary teams;
- examples of engaging vulnerable or marginalized groups;
- the creation of e-health, e-prescriptions, telemedicine for pre-examination, databases accessible to all, and other rapidly evolving digital tools, as well as high-level coordination.
One vivid issue that emerged in all presentations, was that without inter- and multisectoral cooperation to find joint solutions, this pandemic cannot be controlled, or future emergencies prepared for.
Climate change, environment and health
The impact of climate change on human health was another key topic of the meeting, taking place in the days leading up to United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Participants were exposed to new knowledge and presented with scientific evidence from high-level international experts. Many regions shared their work on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, with concrete examples, including: plans for extreme weather events, decarbonization programmes for health systems, and combined action on food, agriculture and health – adopting a “One Health” approach.
This once again highlighted how sectoral boundaries should not prevent national and subnational actors from identifying the interconnected drivers that generate public health threats. Another aspect linked to climate change was the looming threat of heat waves; WHO provided an insight into its programmes and guidelines on the topic, stressing the urgent need for everyone to reduce emissions.
Subnational authorities
The annual meeting also provided a unique opportunity for RHN to bring several other networks to the table, working on health and specifically targeting subnational authorities. This allowed for brainstorming on methodologies and approaches, and an exploration of areas for future collaboration.
RHN confirmed its willingness to take the challenge forward, by developing new activities –for instance through solution-based groups on specific thematic areas, or ad hoc trainings for regional health authorities – ensuring a closer collaboration and direct support to its members.
