70th WHO Regional Committee for Europe: the Commission and WHO Europe strengthen partnership and health cooperation

Today, in the context of the 70th session of its Regional Committee for Europe, WHO Europe and the Commission will publish this afternoon a joint statement titled ‘A deeper and result-oriented partnership for health in Europe’. The statement focuses on cooperation in five priority areas: health security, health systems, non-communicable diseases with a focus on cancer, sustainable food systems and health as well as health cooperation with non-EU countries. Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, stressed that: “Only multilateralism can bring us global solutions to crises such as the one we have been facing since the beginning of 2020. On behalf of the Commission, I would like to recognise and support the leadership role that the WHO has played at both global and European level. I welcome WHO’s European Work programme for 2020-2025 which complements the work of the Commission. Most urgently, we need to join forces to develop safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics to fight coronavirus. Because no one is safe until everyone is safe.” A keynote address by Commissioner Kyriakides this afternoon will be available here.