Closing remarks at the Better Health for All in Latvia conference

18 April 2011, Riga, Latvia

Honourable Minister,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Your Excellencies,

It has been a momentous day. Today we have discussed, shared and learned about the evidence and the responses needed to achieve better health for all people in Latvia and also for the rest of Europe. First, I would therefore like to congratulate all of you on such a successful event and such fruitful discussions and to thank the honourable Minister of Health and the entire Government of Latvia for inviting me and WHO to join you in this conference.

WHO/Europe also applauds the efforts of the Government of Latvia and commitments to strengthen public health and address inequity in health through a multiple stakeholders, a health in all policies approach, and most importantly, a whole-of-government approach. The commitment is evident and has been so clearly demonstrated by the presence and active engagement of not only all of you but also the President, Prime Minister and the other ministerial colleagues of the Minister of Health and the members of the National Development Committee. I am truly impressed.

We all know that much important work remains to be done to meet the challenges of noncommunicable diseases, to address inequity in health, to prevent and treat communicable diseases and to ensure that all babies in Latvia and the European Region are born healthy and have the same opportunities for health regardless of where they are born, their ethnicity, or their parents education or income. Today has shown some innovative interventions for this work.

WHO is excited about the partnership with Latvia in developing the new health policy for the European Region, Health 2020, and in continuing to support and see the further development and implementation of the new Latvian Public Health Strategy. There is so much we can learn from each other and achieve together for better health for all in Latvia and in the European Region. This is the message I will be taking back to my staff and when I meet other Member States in the Region.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of Health, the whole Government of Latvia and the Latvian Medical Association for their gracious hospitality and all of you for your warm welcome and contributions. Together with the panellists and presenters, all of you have contributed to making the discussions here today so rich and to making this day such a success. I sincerely hope it was as energizing and inspiring for you as it was for me and that we can build on this spirit and the lessons shared here today in our day-to-day work as we move forward with improving the health of all Latvians and all people in Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen, Honourable Minister, I thank you again for your support, for the warm welcome, and I congratulate you on the success of today’s conference –Better Health for All in Latvia.