• emphasises that inequalities in health cannot be reduced by the health sector alone, they require action by all those whose work promotes health and wellbeing through integrated and coordinated whole-of-governance plans, the Health in All Policies Approach (HiAP) and through the wider engagement of society;
• underlines that political and organisational leadership committed to strategically addressing health inequalities is a prerequisite to help drive and implement this;
• underlines that regional and local authorities play key roles in the provision of public health services, in health promotion and disease prevention; equally, policies such as employment, housing, transport, planning, environment and public safety are some other functions of local and regional authorities ensuring that they are key actors in reducing health inequalities;
• highlights the importance of active community organisations that are best placed both to understand the needs of vulnerable groups locally and to get most beneficial engagement in programmes;
• stresses that facilitating the engagement of local and regional health systems and authorities is critical in all phases of the European Structural and Investment Funds programming cycle to ensure that health improvements receive appropriate prioritisation,
• encourages uptake of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) facility by authorities and bodies in developing partnerships to facilitate cross-border projects to reduce health inequalities, for instance with respect to infrastructure and access to state-of-the-art medical equipment;
• welcomes wider EU initiatives to assist authorities within Member States to develop sustainable and effective health systems in particular by investing in preventive healthcare so as to reduce future longer-term costs and to restructure healthcare systems to provide equitable access to high-quality healthcare;
• urges all authorities to continue working towards standardised European Core Health Indicators (ECHI), which should be developed in close consultation with local and regional representatives;
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- emphasises that inequalities in health cannot be reduced by the health sector alone, they require action by all those whose work promotes health and wellbeing through integrated and coordinated whole-of-governance plans, the Health in All Policies Approach (HiAP) and through the wider engagement of society;
- underlines that political and organisational leadership committed to strategically addressing health inequalities is a prerequisite to help drive and implement this;
- underlines that regional and local authorities play key roles in the provision of public health services, in health promotion and disease prevention; equally, policies such as employment, housing, transport, planning, environment and public safety are some other functions of local and regional authorities ensuring that they are key actors in reducing health inequalities;
- highlights the importance of active community organisations that are best placed both to understand the needs of vulnerable groups locally and to get most beneficial engagement in programmes;
- stresses that facilitating the engagement of local and regional health systems and authorities is critical in all phases of the European Structural and Investment Funds programming cycle to ensure that health improvements receive appropriate prioritisation,
- encourages uptake of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) facility by authorities and bodies in developing partnerships to facilitate cross-border projects to reduce health inequalities, for instance with respect to infrastructure and access to state-of-the-art medical equipment;
- welcomes wider EU initiatives to assist authorities within Member States to develop sustainable and effective health systems in particular by investing in preventive healthcare so as to reduce future longer-term costs and to restructure healthcare systems to provide equitable access to high-quality healthcare;
- urges all authorities to continue working towards standardised European Core Health Indicators (ECHI), which should be developed in close consultation with local and regional representatives;