Leaving no one behind – rethinking policy priorities for sustainable societies and health systems

The Venice Office is WHO/Europe’s centre of excellence directly supporting the implementation of the European Programme of Work (EPW) and goal of leaving no one behind.

The mission of the Office is to promote health and prioritize a reduction in gender and health inequities to create fairer and healthier settings and societies. To achieve this, the Office works with countries and partners in the pan-European Region to:

• implement gender and equity-responsive health and social systems;
• build policy alliances with social and economic sectors to invest in public health goods for health and well-being for all;
• strengthen know–how to integrate health, equity and well-being into everyday life settings; and
• quantify and demonstrate how health and health equity are public goods for social cohesion and inclusive growth.

At the country level, the Venice Office supports Member States with tailored solutions through:

• direct country support to strengthen health and multisectoral policies and systems
• tailored country and sub-national analysis and policy options
• evidence, factsheets and investment guides
• ‘what works’ demonstration sites and cases
• capacity-building and solution fora for health leaders
• multicountry health networks and alliances
• a digital knowledge hub
• decision-making and resource allocation tools and metrics
• communication and advocacy materials.

Implementation and support at the country level is facilitated through the coordination of networks at sub-national (regions and cities), sub-regional (e.g. Nordic Baltic countries and Central Asian republics) and pan-European levels.

The Venice Office manages the WHO European Health Equity Status Report and the Well-Being Economy Initiative. It is the home of the Small Countries Initiative and the Regions for Health Network. The Office was established in 2003 through an agreement between the Government of Italy, represented by the national Ministry of Health and the Veneto Region, and WHO/Europe. The current agreement covers the period 2021–2026.

Social determinants: Fiscal constraints faced by countries will reduce public spending and likely increase poverty, social exclusion and poor health across the life-course. This will lead to new and deeper inequities in mental and physical health between social groups and geographical regions. These cannot be resolved by the health sector alone and need multisectoral responses.

Public health authorities need to strengthen the equity impact of their public health policies and interventions and join forces with other public sectors to increase investment in equity-responsive health systems, decent and affordable housing, universal social protection, secure employment, healthy working conditions and social capital. These public health goods for health equity will deliver co-benefits for better health, human capital, fiscal stability, inclusive growth and social cohesion.

Gender and human rights. The COVID-19 pandemic is having a differential impact on the health of women and men through both direct and indirect mechanisms. Statistics suggest that men experience more severe COVID-19-related health outcomes, but the risk of infection and the consequences of prolonged containment and mitigation efforts are worse for women. This differential impact emphasizes the need to consider gender in efforts to address both immediate and long-term impacts.

Healthy settings. The programme provides political, strategic and technical support to WHO/Europe Member States on how to best strengthen health, equity and well-being in everyday settings and how to best integrate a commitment to health within the policies, structures, processes and routine life of organizations and other settings. The Venice Office hosts two important healthy settings networks: the Small Countries Initiative (SCI) and the Regions for Health Network (RHN).