High-level meeting on health systems resilience: from disruption to delivering better – strategies to promote health services recovery: a virtual meeting hosted by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, 15 November 2021

ABSTRACT

This high-level meeting addressed health systems resilience and strategies for tackling the backlogs of health services accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic in the WHO European Region. It also marked the launch of the report Health systems resilience during COVID-19 lessons for building back better. Representatives of Member States and WHO regional offices reported that many essential health services remain disrupted, with long and growing waiting lists. Common interventions in countries include repurposing facilities, recruiting medical staff, improving partnerships between public and private actors, and implementing digital health solutions. The meeting concluded that interventions to rebuild health services should be adapted to specific local health system features, contexts and challenges. Immediate priority actions to address health services transformation and adaptation and health systems recovery throughout the Region should focus on increasing health workforce capacities; scaling up digital health interventions; and strengthening primary health care structures, primarily for mental health and social care.