WHO Regions for Health Network - RHN

09/12/2025

Thanks for hosting our 30th Annual Meeting in St. Polten!

03/12/2025

📢 New report out now!
We are pleased to share the newly released report on the Small Countries Initiative (SCI) — a unique collaborative platform bringing together 12 Member States in the WHO European Region with populations under two million.

📘 Covering the period 2021–2024, the report captures the Initiative’s progress through high-level meetings and the implementation of the European Programme of Work and the Roadmap towards better health in small countries (2022–2025).
Over these years, the SCI has acted as an initiator, catalyst, convener and connector — raising awareness, building partnerships and driving action on key health priorities.

🌍 It has amplified the visibility of small countries’ needs and innovations at regional and international level, while supporting context-specific solutions to strengthen health systems and improve population health.

💡 As a true laboratory for innovation, the SCI has fostered cross-country learning, knowledge exchange and collaborative problem-solving — helping countries address shared challenges through mutual support.

🔎 The report highlights the Initiative’s unique role in giving voice to small countries, advancing health equity and promoting innovative approaches to public health. It confirms the SCI’s enduring relevance as a model of regional cooperation and a driver of transformative change.

Publicaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud

21/11/2025

Will AI deepen inequality, or will it improve the health and well-being of all our citizens?

Our new report provides the first regional snapshot of AI readiness across 50 of our 53 Member States.

The findings are sobering:
📌 Only 4 out of 50 countries have a health-specific national AI strategy.
📌Fewer than 1 in 4 provide AI training for health workers.
📌Just 4 out of 50 have liability standards defining responsibility when AI fails.
📌86% (or 43 out of 50) Member States cite legal uncertainty as their top barrier to adoption, followed closely by financial constraints (78%; 39 out of 50).

These numbers tell a clear story: the AI revolution in health is already underway, but readiness, capacity and governance are uneven.

And yet, there are reasons for optimism:
📌64% (32 out of 50) of countries already use AI-assisted diagnostics, particularly in imaging.
📌Nearly all – 98% (49 out of 50) – cite improving patient care as their top priority, and 92% (46 out of 50) see AI as key to reducing the burden on health workers.

Read the Statement by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe at the High-level Meeting on “AI for Health and Care in Europe: Practical Solutions for a Healthy Future”

Distinguished ministers, colleagues and partners, The world is standing at the edge of a quiet revolution, powered not by steam or silicon, but by data and algorithms. I’d like you all to imagine a world – just 10 years from now – where a mother in a rural village can receive an instant diagno...

23/10/2025

[🧓👴News from the network!]

Member regions are translating WHO’s vision into practice through targeted initiatives for – spanning health promotion, mental well-being, social inclusion and intergenerational solidarity:

📌 Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany: community connection through health cafés

📌Klaipėda Region, Lithuania: reducing loneliness with a “social recipe”

📌Wales: building an age-friendly nation through local leadership

📌Empowering active ageing through “Moscow Longevity”

📌Western Greece: bridging health care and community through telemedicine

📌Bizkaia: an Age-Friendly territory

As the WHO European Region and neighbouring regions face a demographic shift toward older populations, WHO’s policies on healthy ageing are guiding governments and local authorities toward innovative, evidence-based strategies. Within the WHO Regions for Health Network (RHN), member regions are t...

29/09/2025

🌟 , Big Health Impact
The report from the Eleventh high-level meeting of the Small Countries Initiative is now online!

From 11–13 May 2025, 14 countries and 82 health leaders came together in Bled, Slovenia for the Eleventh High-Level Meeting of the Small Countries Initiative (SCI) – including 7 ministers of health.

The focus? Innovation as the engine of health system transformation.
💡 Personalized & preventive care
💡 Tech innovation in health
💡 Decarbonizing health systems
💡 Sustainable health financing
💡 Community empowerment

Key takeaways:
✅ SCI impact report 2021–2024
✅ Aligning small countries’ priorities with WHO EPW2 (2026–2030)
✅ Boosting health workforce development and access to medicines
✅ Signing the Slovenia Statement – a commitment to collaboration and innovation

The report:

Publicaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud

11/09/2025

[RHN news 🗞️ ]

Regions Unite to Advance Health and Climate Action at Upcoming Flanders Conference

How can regions better protect health and wellbeing in the face of climate change—while also making their health systems more sustainable? This critical question will be at the heart of a three-day conference in Brussels, taking place from 15 to 17 September 2025.
The event is co-organized by the Government of Flanders, the WHO Regions for Health Network (RHN), and the European Committee of the Regions.

More 👉

How can regions better protect health and wellbeing in the face of climate change—while also making their health systems more sustainable? This critical question will be at the heart of a three-day conference in Brussels, taking place from 15 to 17 September 2025. The event is co-organized by the ...

16/07/2025

“Better health begins in the regions: building bridges, creating solutions”

📌 30th annual meeting of the Regions for Health Network!
26 – 28 November 2025, St Pölten, Austria

Updates on our website 👇 👇 👇

Hosted by the Government of Lower Austria, the 30th annual meeting of the WHO European Regions for Health Network (RHN) will centre around the theme “Better health begins in the regions: building bridges, creating solutions”.

28/01/2025

Join us!👇

The second of five hearings shaping the future of health in Europe takes place on 30 January 2025 – and you're invited!

Our next topic is: ‘ageing is living’. With ageing populations how can we ensure that as people live longer, we enhance life within those years. Bringing together experts from academia, government and civil society, this session is for anyone who wants to help make age about more than just a number.

✍️ REGISTER NOW: https://bit.ly/4fM9Nn7

21/01/2025

WHO comments on United States announcement of intent to withdraw

13/01/2025

[Worth a read]
Evaluating 5 years of the first European Programme of Work

WHO/Europe has officially commenced work on evaluating its European Programme of Work, 2020–2025 (EPW) – “United Action for Better Health”. This strategy, which has guided the European Region’s health priorities for the past 4 years, is now under review to inform the development of the sec...

26/11/2024

Ready for tomorrow!

Thanks 🇮🇹Friuli Venezia Giulia for hosting the 29th RHN Annual Meeting in Trieste.
3 days on AI, Commercial Determinants, Ageing & enhancing community wellbeing.

Discover Regional success stories here

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 di...