Event highlights
Regional leadership, innovation and integrated care took centre stage at a conference in Venice on 22 June 2026, presenting the latest results of Italy’s System for Evaluating the Performance of Regional Health Systems. Hosted by the Veneto Region and the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna’s Laboratory of Management and Health, the event brought together policy-makers, researchers and health system leaders to reflect on how regions can strengthen health services and improve outcomes for their populations.
Opening the conference, Kira Fortune, from the WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development, highlighted the increasingly important role of regions in addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing health systems today, including population ageing, rising rates of chronic disease, workforce shortages and growing expectations for accessible, coordinated and people-centred care.
Measuring what matters
The conference focused on the results of the 2025 performance assessment of Italy’s regional health systems, a long-standing initiative led by the Laboratory of Management and Health at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Italy’s System for Evaluating the Performance of Regional Health Systems evaluates health service performance across multiple dimensions, providing evidence to support improvement and accountability.
Participants explored how performance assessment can better reflect the real experiences of citizens, including access to care, continuity of services, prevention efforts and equity.
For WHO, this perspective aligns with a growing focus on people-centred health systems. “Behind every data point is a person – a patient, a family member, a citizen navigating a system that should work for them, not the other way around,” Fortune said.
Healthy ageing as a test of system performance
A recurring theme throughout the conference was healthy ageing and its implications for health system design. Europe’s populations are living longer than ever before, representing one of the continent’s greatest public health achievements. However, participants stressed that the challenge now is ensuring that these additional years are lived in good health, independence and dignity.
Veneto was highlighted as an example of a region that has placed healthy ageing at the centre of its health strategy through investments in territorial services, integrated care pathways and community-based support. Such approaches seek not only to extend life expectancy but also to improve quality of life and maintain independence for older people.
This requires a shift from fragmented and reactive models of care towards integrated systems that prioritize prevention, early intervention and coordinated support around people’s needs.
Regions as laboratories for innovation
Fortune also presented examples of WHO’s collaboration with regions across Italy through the WHO Regions for Health Network, demonstrating how regional authorities are pioneering practical solutions to complex health challenges.
At the same time, WHO is helping regions strengthen the economic case for investing in health. Increasingly, evidence shows that health systems contribute not only to better health outcomes but also to local economic development through employment, innovation, research, procurement and skills development.
The event highlighted the value of peer learning and collaboration among regional authorities. Through networks such as the WHO Regions for Health Network and WHO Healthy Cities Network, regions and cities across Europe are sharing experiences and identifying practical solutions to common challenges. WHO will continue to work closely with regional, national and local partners to support this transformation and ensure that health systems deliver better health and reduced inequalities for all.