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COVID19: the Recommendations of the Commission Convened by the WHO

, by Barbara Orlando
The Pan European Commission led by Mario Monti indicates as priorities: to adopt a One Health policy at all levels, to address deep inequalities, to invest in innovation, to improve regional and global health governance

The Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development to rethink policy priorities in the light of pandemics commissioned by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, has concluded its work with the presentation of the report 'Drawing the light from the pandemic: a new strategy for Health and Sustainable Development' containing a series of recommendations collected in eight key concepts: One Health, inequality, innovation, investment, surveillance and monitoring, global governance, regional governance. Chaired by Mario Monti, President of Bocconi University, assisted in the role of special advisor by Aleksandra Torbica, Director of CERGAS Bocconi, the Commission, which took office on August 27 last year, has recommended and invited governments to:

  • establish cross-government One Health strategies, based on the concept of 'health in all policies' to safeguard future generations from existential threats;
  • identify and target those who lead precarious or impoverished lives and tackle societal distrust to improve social cohesion, including setting quotas for female representation on public bodies tasked with drafting and implementing health policies;
  • gather data on the various levels of health within populations and develop monitoring of health inequality and access to health and social care.
  • harness innovation to improve One Health, based on partnership between the public and private sectors, where both risks and returns are shared;
  • to address long-standing funding gaps in primary healthcare, mental health and social care, while investing in and protecting the health workforce;
  • to proactively prioritize the prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, rather than reacting to healthcare issues as they arise;
  • to invest in measures to reduce health threats, provide early warning systems, and strengthen surveillance and data collection while safeguarding individual privacy;
  • establish a Global Health and Finance Board under the auspices of the G20, the development of a Global Pandemic Treaty and a Global Pandemic Vaccine Policy;
  • establish a Pan-European Network for Disease Control and a Pan-European Health Threats Council, while investing in data-sharing and data-interoperability platforms across the region

"The Pan-European Commission on Health & Sustainable Development calls on national governments, regional and global organizations, and stakeholders of health and social care systems, to engage in far-reaching reforms, investment programmes and improvements in governance, drawing light from the pandemic", stated Mario Monti. "In addition to increasing prevention, preparedness and response to pandemics, our recommendations design a new strategy for health and sustainable development. This requires awareness of the interconnections between human, animal and plant health and their impact on emerging zoonotic diseases; of the links between climate change, biodiversity and human health; and of the need to reinvigorate and extend our national health services. Last, but not least, it is necessary to enhance the position of health policy in overall policy making by governments and international organizations, by setting up a Global Health and Finance Board at the G20, recognizing that health is a global public good. New generations deserve a better world; one where progress does not come at the expense of their health and the health of the planet."

"The pandemic has confirmed the idea that disease knows no boundaries," highlights Aleksandra Torbica, CERGAS Director. "We cannot achieve a resilient world without solidarity and better cooperation at all levels. Our Commission has proposed a set of tools to strengthen a rule-based multilateral system where everyone recognizes their interdependence on our small planet. There is no other way to deal with future threats, which are sure to come. However, none of this will work unless the current pandemic is controlled globally. To do so, we already have a weapon available -vaccines- but to make them accessible to the entire world, we must recognize the importance of global public goods, as highlighted in the Commission's recommendations."


Members of the Commission:

President
Professor Mario Monti, President, Bocconi University, former Prime Minister of Italy, former European Commissioner

Scientific Coordinator
Professor Elias Mossialos, Head, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and former Minister of State, Greece

Members
Professor Rafael Bengoa, Co-Director of the Institute for Health and Strategy (SI-Health)
Dr Maggie De Block, former Minister of Health of Belgium
Professor Louise Fresco, President of the Wageningen University & Research Executive Board
Ms Sylvie Goulard, Deputy Governor of the Banque de France
Ms Tarja Halonen, former President of the Republic of Finland
Professor Luise Hölscher, Chief Executive Officer of Robert Bosch Society for Research, former Vice President of EBRD
Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves, former President of the Republic of Estonia
Professor Beata Javorcik, Chief Economist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Professor Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine
Lord Jim O'Neill of Gatley, Chair of Chatham House
Mr Igor Shuvalov, Chairman of VEB.RF (State Development Corporation)
Ms Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Prime Minister of Denmark, former CEO of Save the Children
Professor Willem Van Lerberghe, former Director for Health Systems Policies, World Health Organization
Professor Beatrice Weder di Mauro, President of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Advisor to the Chair of the Commission
Aleksandra Torbica, Director of the Centre for Research on Health and Social Care Management, Bocconi University





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