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EACEA National Policies Platform
Belgium-French-Community

Belgium-French-Community

7. Health and Well-Being

7.2 Administration and governance

Last update: 28 November 2023

Governance



Health policies are shared between all levels of power. 



With the 6th reform of the state in 2015, many health competences have been transferred from Communities and Federal level to the Regions

  • The Walloon Government has then created in 2016 a unique public Agency (organisme d’intérêt public) to manage and coordinate the new competences. It created the Walloon Agency for a Quality Life (Agence pour une Vie de Qualité - AVIQ). It develops synergies between all its competences in order to offer to citizens a global health support. Its 3 major policies are: 
  1. Health and well-being including promotion and health prevention ;
  2. Disabilities including awareness and information campaigns, policies related to accommodation for disabled people and the funding of employment policies for disabled people ; 
  3. Families including family allowances. 
  • Within the French Community Commission of Brussels, the Minister of Health is responsible for Regional health policies in the Region of Brussels. The Minister of Health elaborated in 2016 a decree to offer a legal framework to this new competence. 



At the Community level, several Ministers are responsible for competences related to youth health: 

  • The Minister of Sports is responsible for policy-making in the field of physical education and sports for the entire population including young people ; 

     
  • The Minister of Childhood is responsible for, among others things, policy-making related to activities and “medical prevention” services for nurseling, children, pupils and students, health policy-making related to the Birth and Childhood Office’s missions, the administrative supervision of the Birth and Childhood Office ;



    The Birth and Childhood Office (ONE) is a public body (organisme d’intérêt public) placed under the administrative supervision of the Minister of Childhood. It is responsible for the policy-making, the recognition and the funding of health promotion at school and after-school activities (accueil temps libre) ;

     
  • The Minister of Youth Welfare who is responsible for child protection matters including aspects of mental health.

Cross-sectorial cooperation

  • The Public Health Interministerial Conference (conference interministérielle santé publique) is composed of members of the Federal Government and members of the Regions and/or Communities Governments that are in charge of public health. The Conference is a tool for a dialogue between responsible authorities in the respect of their autonomy. The Interministerial Conference takes place twice a year. 

     
  • The French-speaking Community, the Walloon Region and the French-Community Commission of Brussels have signed an Agreement on the spread of Education to relational, emotional and sexual life (Education à la vie relationelle, affective et sexuelle – EVRAS). This is commonly named “EVRAS”. The Agreement gives a common frame in which the three Governments will take action. It offers a common definition of EVRAS, the topics and contents related. The objective is to spread this subject in every school to offer same quality information to every pupils. It also facilitates cross-sectorial cooperation in order to offer education to relational, emotional and sexual life (EVRAS) to every pupil. 

     
  • The forthcoming Walloon plan for health prevention and promotion aims at promoting health in all policies. Cross-sectorial cooperation will be implemented through this plan. But this plan is still in progress. See section 7.8 Current debates and reforms.

     
  • The health promotion’s plan 2018 – 2022 of the Brussels Government sets as objective to foster and promote health in every policies. 

     
  • Well-being cells (Cellules bien-être) was a cross-sectorial pilot-project which brought together Youth, Health, Youth welfare and (formal) Education for the period of 2011-2014. The aim was to build a common project on a specific topic (e.g. sustainable alimentation, empowerment and participation, fight against violence…). There is no more financial support. See chapter 1 for more information.