Core priorities
Member States of WHO globally – and in its European Region – are committed to implementing three interconnected strategic priorities that constitute the pillars of WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work, 2019–2023 (GPW 13):
- moving towards universal health coverage (UHC)
- protecting people better against health emergencies
- ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages.
These core priorities are anchored in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda and are linked to three bold targets for the health sector’s contribution to the SDGs: the triple billion targets.
The GPW 13 is linked to the triple billion targets at the centre of the health sector’s contribution to the SDGs for the world:
- One billion more people benefiting from universal health coverage.
- One billion more people better protected from health emergencies.
- One billion more people enjoying better health and well-being.
The EPW shapes the European Region’s contribution to the GPW 13 and these global targets. The Tallinn Charter: Health Systems for Health and Wealth; the Astana Declaration (on Primary Health Care); the Ostrava Declaration of the Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health; and the Shanghai Declaration on promoting health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provide a solid foundation for refocusing the Region’s work on these core priorities, while the COVID-19 pandemic adds urgency to the efforts to reach these targets.
