Rethink overall policy priorities, step up investment and reforms in health and social care systems, and improve the global governance of public goods, such as health and the environment. This is what the Pan-European Commission for Health and Sustainable Development, established by the WHO-European Region, chaired by Mario Monti and composed of scientific and political personalities from the 53 member countries of the Region, asked governments and economic actors today. and social and international organizations.
“The world is unlikely to avoid devastating new pandemics or other global health crises if these three directions are not vigorously pursued,” they argue. The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically highlighted the inequalities and deep fractures present in many social contexts. It revealed that our current health, financial, economic and social care systems are poorly prepared and ill-equipped to deal effectively with SARS-CoV-2.
The Pan-European Commission presented this call to action – the first result of its work – to stimulate and accelerate the ongoing debate, both nationally and supranationally, on how to address those deeply entrenched conditions that have allowed the Covid pandemic to inflict unprecedented damage to our lives and economies.
The document offers indications on the priorities to be given to health and sustainable development also to make our economic and social systems more modern and resilient, for the benefit of future generations.
The proposals are:
-Identify, assess and react to risks deriving from human activities, including climate change, emerging zoonotic infections and antimicrobial antibiotic resistance, through the creation of an Intergovernmental Group on Health Threats.
-Removing social rifts and building trust in institutions by identifying and engaging with people who have been deprived of their rights, and improving access to health and social services.
Recognize that spending on health, social care, education and research is an investment in human and intellectual capital that drives progress. In particular, incorporate the risks identified by the “One Health” approach (human, animal and environmental health) into the risk analysis used by international financial institutions, public authorities and the financial sector.
-Create at G20 level a Global Health Board on the model of the Financial Stability Board created after the 2008 financial crisis, to identify vulnerabilities that threaten the health of humans, animals and environment; and promote an International Treaty on Pandemics.
– Encourage the discovery and development of medicines, medical technologies, digital solutions and organizational innovations; and increase the transparency of public / private partnerships.
The Commission’s work will culminate in a report to be released in September 2021 with more detailed recommendations on investments and reforms to improve health and social care systems and international governance.
“We ask government leaders and international organizations to bridge the rifts in our societies and to become fully aware of the conditions that have allowed the new coronavirus to inflict such serious damage on the planet – he said. Mario Monti -. A number of things need to change: from our societies’ view of health and social care, to financial systems adequately addressing environmental and health risks, to how global governance responds to the increasingly decisive role of public goods ”concluded the president of the Pan-European Commission for Health and Sustainable Development, president of Bocconi University, and former president of the Italian Council.
‘I welcome the Commission’s call to action. Its members have been tasked with rethinking health policy, going far beyond the definition of pre-pandemic health – he said. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe -. What is particularly important to me is that public health is no longer considered a marginal issue. More than a year after a health emergency that has shaken societies to their foundations, it should be clear to all of us that health is an investment that drives progress. This initial orientation of the Commission – a vital part of the European Program of Work – is fundamental to pave the way for joint action for better health ”.
The Pan-European Commission for Health and Sustainable Development is an independent and interdisciplinary group of leaders, convened by the WHO Regional Office for Europe at the initiative of its Director Hans Henri P. Kluge, to rethink political priorities in the light of pandemics. It is made up of former heads of state and government, authoritative bio-scientists and economists, heads of health and welfare institutions, and leaders of the manufacturing sector and financial institutions from across the European region.
Mario Monti, president of Bocconi University, former president of the Italian Council and former European Commissioner, was called to chair the Commission. Professor Elias Mossialos, founder and director of the Department of Health Policy of the London School of Economics, is the Scientific Coordinator of the Commission, and his deliberations are supported by a Scientific Advisory Committee, chaired by Prof Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Research.