WHO/Europe has designated the Austrian National Public Health Institute (Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG)) in Vienna, Austria, as the new WHO Collaborating Centre for Social Participation for Health and Care.
The designation strengthens WHO/Europe’s efforts to support Member States in implementing meaningful and sustained social participation in health decision-making. Through this collaboration, the centre will help build national capacities, facilitate knowledge exchange and disseminate experiences and good practices from across the Region.
“Meaningful social participation is essential for building health systems that truly respond to people’s needs. This new WHO collaborating centre will be a key partner in helping countries move from commitment to implementation, creating opportunities to learn from one another, strengthen national capacities and advance evidence-informed approaches to participation. By amplifying the voices of people and communities in decision-making, we can make health systems more inclusive, responsive and resilient.” said Sulakshana Nandi, Technical Officer, Health Workforce and Service Delivery, WHO/Europe.
Empowering people, communities and civil society through participation in health and care decision-making
At the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly in 2024, Member States adopted a resolution on social participation for universal health coverage, health and well-being. The resolution calls for the implementation, strengthening and sustainability of regular and meaningful social participation in decision-making processes for health, creating greater opportunities for people, communities and civil society organizations to help shape policies and services that affect their health and well-being.
Social participation is core to primary health care and promotes equitable progress towards universal health coverage, producing more responsive health policies and programmes, and helping to foster population trust in the health system.
The new collaborating centre will support WHO/Europe and Member States in translating the World Health Assembly resolution into practical action across the Region.
As Gerlinde Rohrauer-Näf, Head of the collaborating centre, stated: “Participation is not a luxury, it is a necessity. When people have a voice in decisions that affect their lives, policies become more transparent, responsive and widely accepted. Better participation leads to better health”.
“By involving people in decisions that affect them, we can create solutions that are more relevant, legitimate and effective. Participation is a cornerstone of quality governance and sustainable change,” added Daniela Rojatz, Deputy Head of the centre.
What will the centre focus on?
Over the next years the collaborating centre will support WHO/Europe in several key areas:
- Training and education. The centre will organize training activities, including a summer school on social participation to strengthen the capacities of Member States.
- Country support and implementation. The centre will contribute to the implementation of WHO programmes and activities at country level, including through twinning initiatives. It will provide expertise, mentoring and technical support to countries seeking to strengthen participatory approaches in health and care.
- Collection and collation of information. The institution will support efforts to map and assess the implementation of the World Health Assembly resolution in countries across the European Region and elsewhere. Findings will be compiled in a report and shared with Member States to support continuous improvement.
- Information dissemination. The centre will contribute to collecting and disseminating experiences and good practices related to social participation. Activities will include one webinar to share good practices.
- Research. Working under WHO’s leadership, the centre will contribute to collaborative research on social participation. Planned activities include the drafting of a protocol on indicators for social participation.
The GÖG has been designated as a WHO collaborating centre for social participation in recognition of its extensive experience in advancing people-centred approaches to health and care. Putting patients at the centre of health systems is a fundamental principle of the GÖG’s work and is reflected across its activities in research, policy advising, implementation support and capacity development.
“The designation as a WHO collaborating centre for social participation is both an honour and a responsibility. It reflects the GÖG’s commitment to patient-centred health systems and to participation as a core principle of health promotion. Hosting 3 WHO collaborating centres, including the new centre for social participation, highlights the strong and longstanding collaboration between the GÖG and WHO across several public health fields. We look forward to strengthening evidence, sharing good practices, and supporting countries in advancing meaningful participation in health,” said Herwig Ostermann, GÖG Chief Executive Officer.
Through this collaboration, WHO/Europe and the GÖG will work together to strengthen the role of people and communities in shaping health policies and services, helping to build more responsive, inclusive and resilient health systems across the European Region.