The action plan has been referred to as a key pillar for Health 2020,
WHO/EURO’s general strategic framework for the decade to come. By adopting the Action Plan, the member states of the WHO Regional Office for Europe made an explicit commitment towards strengthening their public health capacities through the implementation and securitization of a set of ten Essential Public Health Operations. The need and obligation for building public health capacity in Europe has also been addressed by the European Union’s (EU) Health Strategy 2008-2013, which identified the need for greater capacity in public health by strengthening training and public health structures in the member states. In accordance with this strategy, the European Commission’s General Directorate for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) initiated a review of capacities for public health in its respective Member
States. Capacity building also continues to remain an important item
under the new EU Health For Growth Programme (2014-2020), which
aims at supporting national efforts to strengthen capacities in various
areas of their (public) health systems