Dr Doody believes in ESCAP’s objective to utilize shared experiences from other countries.“After having established a strong national position in order to reassure the necessary support from government and society – indeed health systems will be different in each country – we have to start looking across borders. Because in the actual evidence that informs the practice there is generally no difference between the ESCAP member countries.”

 

Openness and mentality
“For this we need a structure. You may have pockets of information everywhere – but how do we draw this information together? How can we use the knowledge that has already been developed, rather than reinventing the wheel? How do we get the knowledge in a place that is accessible, so we can share those learnings? This is about openness and about a mentality of working together.” Here lies the essence of the ESCAP goal, according to Dr. Doody: “Ultimately this is about what our focus is: the children. How do we improve their quality of life? Nationally we say to the government is: this is about maximizing the potential of your citizens, your future. This is a sector that really needs more investments, rather than to be subject of cuts. And united in ESCAP we say: this is what a civilized Europe is really about. There is more to a European Union than only economics and the common market – it should be about how Europe sees its future. And its future is its young people.”