Regions for Health Network Twenty-second annual meeting report. Milan, Italy, 14–15 October 2015

From 14 to 15 October 2015, the 22nd annual meeting of the Regions for Health Network (RHN) was held in Milan, Italy. 

The main theme was improving health and equity across regions and sectors. This year, it was organized as a preconference of the 8th European Public Health Conference, including capacity-building-sessions and the RHN business meeting. 

Capacity-building sessions addressed important scientific evidence and practical efforts to improve health and equity: 

• joining forces – citizens and regions for better health; 
• starting people on a healthy life course – evidence, policy and advocacy; and 
• tackling health inequities at subnational level – grounding actions on data. 

These were put in the context of the WHO European health policy framework, Health 2020, and efforts to translate it into practice at regional level. The RHN business meeting provided its Steering Group and members with an opportunity to describe and discuss their main activities during the previous and coming year, including the revision of the terms of reference, a programme of publications and new ways of extending RHN's effectiveness. 

In addition to the meeting, members also had the opportunity to organize and attend three sessions as part of the Conference programme. These are also covered in this publication.