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WHO News release
“A well-being economy means putting people’s quality of life and their well-being at the heart of economic recovery. One of the priorities of our Member States in the European Region is to find tangible ways to ensure that investment in health and health systems remains at the top of the policy agenda,” said Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Director of WHO/Europe’s Division of Country Health Policies and Systems at the U-WE launch event.
Investing in public health policies and in healthy populations leads to improvements not only in health and health equity, but also in wider benefits for the well-being of societies, economies, and the planet. The U-WE initiative aims to place multidimensional well-being at the centre of all economic, fiscal and development decisions, and to provide framing for policies that help to create the conditions that make life better. These include effective health and social policies, safe living conditions and environmental policies, and adequate social safety nets in case of job loss or other hardship.
The well-being economy approach
North Macedonia, for example, is putting health and development at the top of the policy agenda to improve inequities in the country. The Health Insurance Fund of North Macedonia, the University of Maribor in Slovenia, and WHO/Europe recently conducted an analysis to understand the current impact of the healthcare sector on the national economy. The report finds that health institutions can contribute to the growth of the national economy and have a microsocial impact on local communities and local development planning.
Anchor institutions in Preston, United Kingdom, are already investing in the local community, developing opportunities for local employment, apprenticeships and training through major workstreams such as the Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal. The results of the latest survey presented by the National Institute for Health (NIH) indicate an 11% increase in wages, 9% increase in life satisfaction, 8% increase in employment and 11% improvement in mental health.
The well-being economy approach to health and welfare systems can counter the growing and devastating inequalities in the Pan-European Region and in the world. It can help to address both current challenges and future shocks.
“Getting health on the agenda, into the budget and into economic policies requires strong collaboration, a solid evidence base and advocacy. Nobody can do it alone, we can only do it together,” highlighted Katja Iversen, independent advisor, author, and global advocate on purpose-driven leadership, sustainability, global health, and gender equality.
Generating tools and evidence
The U-WE Initiative and the NEEG are already collaborating with the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and with Public Health Wales to generate evidence, well-being investment tools, know-how and approaches to support countries and partners in creating a shift towards new economic practices.
“We will need to shape and influence this process with strong political support from our Member States by bringing forward innovations in the evidence, know-how, investment tools, and partnerships, specifically, to quantify the co-benefits from having a healthy population where no one is left behind,” explained Chris Brown, Head of the Venice Office.
Underlining that WHO and the Venice Office are uniquely positioned to lead this work, Aaron Reeves, Co-chair of the Group, added, “WHO and the Venice Office, in particular, have incredible expertise in these areas and a thorough understanding of the importance of health. They cut across both health and care, as well as those big social determinants of health.”
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