Covid19: One Year to Redefine Policy Priorities

WORK HAS BEGUN FOR THE COMMISSION SET UP BY THE WHO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPE CHAIRED BY MARIO MONTI, PRESIDENT OF BOCCONI. ALEKSANDRA TORBICA, DIRECTOR OF CERGAS, IS SPECIAL ADVISOR

The work of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development officially began yesterday with its first virtual meeting. Convened by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, it will rethink policy priorities in light of pandemics. The Commission is chaired by Mario Monti, President of Bocconi, assisted in the role of Special Advisor by Aleksandra Torbica, Director of CERGAS Bocconi. It will complete its work by September 2021 by presenting a report with recommendations on investments and reforms to improve the resilience of health and social care systems.

The 20 members of the Commission, including Elias Mossialos in the role of Scientific Coordinator (Head of the Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics), will review priorities in economic and social policies in light of the pandemic crisis. The objective is to learn from the Covid-19 emergency, its impact on people and on social and economic systems and the reaction of the various national health systems. This will be used to draw up useful indications for implementing reforms and investments that improve the resilience of healthcare and social systems and the responsiveness to phenomena such as pandemics, including in relation to the challenges of climate change and environmental emergencies.

"The crisis we are experiencing," says Monti, "has shown us how indispensable it is to increase awareness of the role of health and healthcare systems in the phase of defining strategic priorities in the economic and social fields, as well as fiscal policy. The most adequate governance must be defined, also in terms of the division of competencies and responsibilities between states, Europe and international institutions."

"Covid-19 has painfully highlighted that healthcare systems play an essential role in societies," concludes Torbica. “However, being able to put the health of the population and the proper functioning of healthcare systems at the top of governments' agendas has always encountered obstacles. The Commission offers a concrete opportunity to design a more effective approach to health, as a basis for sustainable development."

Members of the Commission

Chair
Professor Mario Monti, President, Bocconi University, former Prime Minister of Italy, former European Commissioner

Scientific Coordinator
Professor Elias Mossialos, Head, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and former Minister of State, Greece

Members
- Professor Rafael Bengoa, former Minister for Health and Consumer Affairs in the Basque Regional Government, Spain and Co-Director of the Institute for Health and Strategy (SIHealth)
- Sir Suma Chakrabarti KCB, former President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- Professor Louise Fresco, President of the Wageningen University & Research Executive Board
- Ms Sylvie Goulard, Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, former Minister of Defence, former Member of the European Parliament
- Ms Tarja Halonen, former President of the Republic of Finland
- Professor Luise Hölscher, Deputy CEO, Stiftung Rehabilitation Heidelberg (SRH) Holding, former Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
- Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves, former President of the Republic of Estonia
- Professor Dr Beata Javorcik, Chief Economist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- Professor Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Research, Past President, European Public Health Association, Director of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
- Lord Jim O'Neill of Gatley, Chair of Chatham House and former UK Treasury Minister
- Ms Roza Otunbayeva, Former President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan
- Ms Guler Sabanci, Chair of Sabanci Holding and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Sabanci Foundation
- Ms Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Prime Minister of Denmark, former CEO of Save the Children
- Mr Igor Shuvalov, Chairman of VEB.RF (State Development Corporation), former First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
- Dr Anna Stavdal, World President-elect of WONCA (World Organization of Family Doctors)
- Professor Willem Van Lerberghe, former Director for Health Systems Policies, World Health Organization
- Professor Beatrice Weder di Mauro, President of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Professor of International Economics at The Graduate Institute of Geneva, Research Professor and Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD's Emerging Markets Institute.

Special Advisor to the Chair
Professor Aleksandra Torbica, Director of the Center for Research on Health and Social Care Management, Bocconi University

by Barbara Orlando
Translated by Jenna Walker