A European health charter was adopted last week by health ministers from the 53 countries of the European region of the World Health Organization, together with the WHO itself, the World Bank, Unicef, the International Organization for Migration, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

The formal commitment to the charter was made at the end of a three day conference on health systems, health, and wealth, held in Tallinn, Estonia, on 25-27 June.

The charter enshrines a commitment to strengthen the region’s health systems and make them more accountable. It also commits member states to making their health systems more responsive to people’s needs, particularly poor and vulnerable people.

The charter is based on three central tenets. Firstly, investing in health systems not only improves health and social …