According to WHO/Europe, the Small Countries Initiative (SCI) took the floor during the 71st session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (RC71) in a side event dedicated to sharing lessons learned on COVID-19.
Protection from emergencies, universal health coverage and healthier populations were the main themes on which ministers and SCI focal points made their voices heard, reports WHO.
Many issues were identified that the SCI will soon begin working on, within the context of the SCI Roadmap. These include primary health care, supporting the health workforce, health financing, access to medicines, innovation beyond just technology, involving other actors such as civil society and academia, healthy tourism, and equity and vulnerable groups.
In the context of building back better, small countries may be able to reinvent themselves faster in recovery than bigger countries. Indeed, small countries are laboratories for innovation and can join forces to negotiate on issues of common concern and to share experiences. They are a unified group of countries which will continue to work together to help each other in their common challenges”.
The 8th high-level meeting of the SCI is planned for summer 2022 in Montenegro. In the interim, the SCI will be busy at work refining the “Roadmap for supporting better health in the small countries of the WHO European Region 2022–2025”, and operationalizing it.
Source: https://www.euro.who.int/en/countries/latvia/news/news/2021/10/small-countries-reaffirm-value-of-working-together-to-recover-from-covid-19
Picture by: WHO/Europe
