The 29th annual meeting of the Regions for Health Network, which will be hosted by the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in Trieste, Italy, will be centred around the theme of “Enhancing community well-being”. This will be a landmark event for subnational authorities in Europe, bringing together a diverse array of public health officials, policy-makers and stakeholders.
The meeting will provide participants with an opportunity to report on and discuss:
- the main health and well-being challenges that their regions are experiencing in the face of global, national and local developments;
- local and regional health governance needs related to demographic transformation, democracy and welfare;
- best practices in the areas of healthy ageing, long-term care, the health workforce, and cross-border cooperation on health and public health;
- opportunities for Network members to advance the well-being economy, public health innovation and community mental health, and to introduce measures to reduce the influence of the commercial determinants of health;
- progress made on the implementation of the Regions for Health Network Roadmap; and
- potential areas of bilateral and multilateral collaboration.
Established in 1992, the Regions for Health Network is a platform through which more than 40 regions and many associated partners and Member States in the WHO European Region work together, sharing health-related evidence, intelligence and good practice.
The aims of the Network are to:
- ensure better health and well-being for people of all ages, across all sectors and in all settings;
- secure universal access to quality care without financial hardship;
- protect against health emergencies; and
- empower health through science, data and innovation.