On the 7th of February the European Committee of the Regions Interregional Group on Health and Wellbeing (IRGHW) held its constitutive meeting.
During the Constitutive meeting, IRGHW members brainstormed together, shared topics relevant for their regions and agreed on the following dates for the 2019 meetings:
- 11th of April – Value-based healthcare
- 17th of June – Active and healthy ageing (informal meeting)
- 26th of June – Healthcare in Cross-border Regions
- October (date tbc) – Health prevention
- 5th December – Health inequality
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an EU advisory body composed of locally and regionally elected representatives coming from all 28 Member States. Through the CoR, the representatives are able to share their opinions on EU legislation that directly impact their regions and cities.
The CoR Interregional Groups are platforms to exchange views and foster new ideas on a variety of issues among local and regional authorities in the Member States and beyond.
For the period 2015-2020, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) Interregional group on health and wellbeing shall focus on three core priority themes:
- health inequities;
- active and healthy ageing;
- health system reform.
The objectives of the interregional group are:
- To promote an understanding of how all sectors affect the health of citizens and communities, and that, subsequently, a multi-level governance approach is needed to improve and sustain health and wellbeing across Europe;
- To share ideas and knowledge on the effective investments to support resilient health systems and improve the health of society. This should emphasise the role of local and regional governments, in particular the implementation of the European Structural and Investments Funds;
- To exchange experiences on current challenges in relation to implementing health system reforms in a climate of limited resources and rising demand;
- To enable discussions on local policy initiatives to build cohesive and sustainable communities that promote and enable healthy behaviours, promoting tools such as Health Impact Assessment;
- To pay close attention to vulnerable groups in society, including those with disabilities, and address mental health equally with physical health by mainstreaming a health equity perspective throughout the group’s work;
- To inform CoR Members of the latest research and innovation in relation to tackling the major chronic diseases and burden of multi-morbidities in an ageing population;
- To explore means and opportunities to facilitate in-depth discussions of the group, without presenting any additional resource or administrative burden on the CoR;
- To communicate effectively with CoR officials to ensure the work of the group is complementary and supportive to ongoing CoR business;
- To continue positive and meaningful cooperation with DG Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of the European Commission, and develop relationships with relevant stakeholders, such as WHO-Europe.
The Interregional Group includes not only the members of the Commission for Natural Resources (NAT), but also seeks to enhance the dialogue with other EU institutions without impeding upon the remit of the NAT Commission itself.
EUREGHA is running the Secretariat of the Interregional Group on Health and Well-being for the duration of 2015-2020.
