On 1–2 March, WHO/Europe is holding its first-ever “Health in the Well-Being Economy” Regional Forum. This is a 2-day event that will gather high-level representatives from ministries of health, finance and economy, together with government
advisors working on recovery, resilience and sustainable development policies, public health policy-makers, and representatives of national and international banks, nongovernmental organizations, the United Nations and European Union agencies.
Building on the growing awareness of the importance of health to well-being economies, the Forum will show how countries are already shifting investment, spending and resources.
The plenary sessions will be streamed live at the link below. A detailed agenda will be uploaded to this page shortly.
Why a forum on health in the well-being economy?
A well-being economy places people and planet at the centre of creating healthy, fairer and more prosperous societies.
This event comes against the backdrop of the interlinked challenges of climate change, the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, affecting the nearly 1 billion people living in the WHO European Region. These interlinked
crises are placing health, social care and welfare systems under strain, and widening health inequities across the Region.
There is increased concern that markets alone cannot solve these challenges. Instead, countries are increasingly
embracing a well-being economy approach, to unlock investments and create healthy, fairer and more prosperous societies for today and the next generation. This approach will be vital for securing resilient health systems.
Key speakers
include:
- Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe;
- Katrin Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland;
- Professor Mario Monti, Former Prime Minister of Italy and European Commissioner;
- Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director, Institute of Health Equity, University College London.
The dialogue at the Forum will build on evidence, practical examples and country experiences.
The intended impacts of the forum include:
- raising awareness of concrete solutions for implementing well-being economies and the role of health in the well-being economy;
- building common ground between health, economy, finance and development sectors and setting an agenda to advance health in the well-being economy;
- establishing a commitment to convene an annual high-level forum to enable countries to implement health in the well-being economy.
Follow the conversation online with #Health4Wellbeing.