Health Committee (HC) Prof. Johannes Brug
1. What is the mission and mandate of your Committee? The overarching objective of the Health Committee is to foster improvements in the performance of Members and Partners health and long-term care systems, for the benefit of the people and the patients, in the following key areas: i) Financial sustainability, access and efficiency of their health and long-term care systems; ii) Better public health policies and health prevention and promotion initiatives; and iii) The provision of high-quality, people-centred health and long-term care to all. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee has devoted significant time and resources to support countries policy responses to improve the resilience of health systems and their preparedness, through the development of new indicators, new policy analysis, and by adjusting existing work programme to reflect COVID-19. The committee has the following subsidiary bodies
Working Party on Health Care Quality and Outcomes (HCQO) Working Party on Health Statistics Expert Group on the Economics of Public Health (EGEPH) Expert Group on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Working Party for the OECD Patient Reported Indicator Surveys (WP-PaRIS)
2. You have been designated Committee Chair. What is your background and what has convinced you to take up this post? How do you consider your background and experience contribute to such a role and function? Since September 2018, I am Director-General (DG) of RIVM, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, and professor of health behaviour at the University of Amsterdam. I have a background in health sciences and epidemiology. Before my present position, I held positions as full professor at various universities in the Netherlands and an honorary professorship at Deakin in Melbourne Australia, and as dean, member of the executive board, and research director at the two university medical centers and universities in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. As DG of RIVM I have integral responsibility for the overall running of the institute, with its three ‘domains’ (Infectious Disease Management; Environment & Safety, Public Health & Health Care). The broad perspective contributes to my role as Committee Chair. For both my academic as well as my current responsibilities, national and international collaboration and knowledge sharing is crucial. High quality data and data management in its broadest sense, is of utmost importance as a basis for policy analysis. Furthermore, international collaboration is inspiring and a great
104
