Senior health officials from eight small European countries met in Vilnius, Lituhania this week to set up the Health Information Network.

Chaired by Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne and under the auspices of the World Health Organisation, representatives from Andorra, Cyprus, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino agreed to establish a European network to facilitate the collection and exchange of information related to health matters.

This will allow standardised reporting, the timely identification of problems and an evidence-base for creating policies.

Small countries are defined as those with a population of under one million.