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Investments that prioritise making people truly matter are the key to unlocking health for all and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and progress is being made across Europe towards well-being economies Unlocking health for all
By Hans Henri P Kluge, director, World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe
C
harles Dickens said “science mattered when it transformed lives by curing disease or cleaning streets”. More than 150 years later, the science on how our social circumstances
analysis shows health equity must be central in all policies for people to feel they are valued. The analysis highlighted five main opportunities to deliver trust, health equity and prosperity: investing in young people, investing in responsive social and health protection systems, engaging communities in decision making, making sure that green and digital transitions are equity-proofed, and distributing health and social care resources equitably to enable people to live in dignity. These policy solutions show how public investment can contribute significantly to rebuilding European solidarity by listening to and working with diverse groups affected by widening social and economic insecurities, exacerbated by the multiple and often overlapping crises of our times – from the Covid-19 pandemic to protracted conflicts to the ever-mounting climate crisis. The evidence that climate change is also a health emergency becomes even more overwhelming as human catastrophes of fires, floods and heat-related deaths increase. This is why the WHO Regional Office for Europe is championing well-being economies, where all public and private investment delivers human, social, economic and planetary well-being. The concept of well-being economies may not be new, but it has a new-found urgency given current regional and global circumstances. The need to invest in solidarity-based policies and embed health within economic and business frameworks were strong key messages from the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development. This message is increasingly being taken up in diverse sectors including finance. Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England and the United Nations
drive health inequities is irrefutable. We know the importance of people feeling that they genuinely matter, as feeling otherwise can be a key driver of inequality in health outcomes. With growing pressure to accelerate progress on delivering the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, addressing the issue of ‘mattering’ is key for SDG 10 to reduce inequalities – which in turn is connected to achieving SDG 3 to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, at all ages. Yet, according to the World Health Organization’s recent Transforming the Health and Social Equity Landscape, inequities are widening, with devastating implications. Between 2019 and 2023 the European region saw 600,000 excess deaths due to low investment in health systems and low human development. The WHO analysis also finds widening gaps in trust, due to people not benefiting from government policies. These findings underscore that health, equity and economic factors are inextricably connected, with social capital the foundation of prosperous and fair societies. This analysis reinforces why societies and economies must focus first and foremost on people and the planet. A SENSE OF MATTERING People’s sense of mattering and well-being is linked with being treated with dignity and respect. This simple truth has profound implications. Across Europe 81% of people believe that governments should prioritise reducing inequities. And the WHO’s
81 % of people in Europe believe that governments should prioritise reducing inequities
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Health: A Political Choice – From Fragmentation to Integration
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