A workshop discussing 'Building Resilience to improve Health and Well-Being in Malta' was held on the 17 October at the University Residence in Lija. In the context of health, resilience is defined as the combination of processes and skills that result in good individual and community health outcomes in spite of negative events, serious threats and hazards.
The aim of this event was to present the latest state-of-the-art knowledge and evidence on the concept of building resilient systems that promote health and wellbeing and apply this in the context of the epidemiological trends and health system challenges facing the health sector in Malta as a result of economic, social and environmental change.
This event was organised jointly by the Directorate for Health Information and Research (DHIR), and the WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Systems and Policies in Small States at the Islands and Small States Institute (ISSI), University of Malta. This was made possible through the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Venice Office and the Biennial Collaboration Agreement between Malta and the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The workshop brought together policy-makers and academics from various sectors that contribute to health and well-being.
The workshop kicked off with a series of presentations outlining the concept of building resilience to overcome inherent vulnerabilities as well as the state of play in the health sector in Malta. This was followed by an interactive session during which participants were actively involved in charting the vulnerabilities and challenges facing the health sector in Malta and identifying priorities for building resilient communities and systems that are able to respond to the identified vulnerabilities and challenges.