Strategy on women’s health and well-being in the WHO European Region (2016)

The Strategy on women’s health and well-being in the WHO European Region is based on a review of the evidence, guidance from the governing bodies, feedback from technical experts, results of an online consultation with Member States, face-to-face consultations in countries and feedback from WHO regions for health and healthy cities networks.

Although women’s health and well-being in the WHO European Region is generally better than elsewhere in the world, this is not necessarily true for all women. Health inequities among women remain large and unjustifiable, both within and between countries in the European Region. This is recognized in the report Beyond the mortality advantage, which was discussed at the technical briefing on women’s health held during the 65th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in September 2015.

The Strategy on women’s health and well-being in the WHO European Region is underpinned by the values of the European policy framework for health and well-being, Health 2020, which acknowledges that gender is a determinant of health, alongside social and environmental determinants, and which identifies gender mainstreaming as a mechanism to achieve gender equity.